


Changing World

by WolfenVic



Category: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Angst, Comedy, M/M, One Year Later, Supernatural Elements, Zombie Apocalypse, intelligent infected
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-10 08:59:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenVic/pseuds/WolfenVic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a year since the infection started. Things are calming down, both on the humans and infected sides.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Left 4 Dead or it's infected types but the world is entirely of my own creation for what it looks like and what has happen with over a majority of the characters coming from my mind as well. There are references to Left 4 Dead characters and locations with brief cameos and I do not claim to own them either, they are properties of Valve Software.

He stood there in, the room. Almost as if the infection had never happened. He looked up at me and grinned. His red eyes seemed to glow in the dark. I kept my pistol pointed at him and stepped into the room. This hunter almost seemed human. I slowly lowered the pistol. " Why haven't you attacked me?" My voice was hallow, but I was scared shitless. A hunter, acting almost human? This was not happening.

This zombie apocalypse hell had been going on for almost a year. Grass and trees were starting to grow out of the pavement. The military had stopped picking up people and bombing cities a few months ago. We had finally hit the maximum. The world was a different place, it would never be going back to the way it was. Survivors were making out their own places and were learning to live among the infected. Some had learned how to build above the infected, others had just taken a building, upped its security and protection, and bam went out with shotguns when they needed food or something. Heck I hear some immune were even thinking of eating zombie flesh if there was a shortage of food. Gross? Just a little.

The world was finally calming down. Actually I was one of the last few out running around by themselves in this world. The infected seemed less violent in the when I walked down the street, less of them, but the specials, something was happening to them. Some of the witches stopped crying. Some of them didn't even walk in the day, they just sat there. A few tanks I seen no longer chased after me. They just kept doing what ever it was they were doing. I was confused by this but it made sense. The world was going nuts right after it all happened. A year later, things are changing.

For the good or bad we don't know yet. If there was a car being use now it was definitely solar powered as most of the gas was gone. Same went for power. Cities were dark, absolutely dark at night. Wildlife now walked down avenues and on the highway. Actually some wildlife species were extinct because of the first few months of the infection.

I was even more astonished when we got television back in some parts. The people out in space had watched as our world died. They were starving but a group of scientists who had lived were said to be getting ready to launch a shuttle to go get them. I found this out when I stayed temporarily at a small survivor village outside of Pittsburgh,PA. I was thinking of going home then, but I heard what of West Virginia didn't get over run was mostly in hiding and dangerous.

Now back to the situation at hand. I was about a three days walk out of Pittsburgh in some small town. I was resting in a small house, abandoned and boarded up, near the inside of a town. Ammo, guns, health, pills, even food was available. I was shocked that it was empty, till I found the writing on the walls. The house used to be a safe house in the beginning of the infection. I had found a sleeping bag in a closet and had fallen asleep, obviously I closed the closet door.

It must have been hours later. I was awoken by a growl in the house. I waited for a while, thinking the owner of the growl had left before I decided to investigate. Upon leaving the closet I had searched the house top to bottom. I hadn't found anything or a sign of break-in till I reached the room with the writing in it. That was where I saw him. I aimed my gun at him. He just stood there. He looked up and grinned at me. I seen hope dance in his red eyes. I slowly lowered my pistol. " Why haven't you attacked me?" I tried to keep my voice hollow and clear. I failed tho, this scared me shitless. The hunter put up a hand and moved it slowly left and right. Almost like a wave. I was so nervous and high strung I smiled a shaky smile and waved back with my left hand keeping the gun in my right.

Finally the hunter moved and pointed at a place on the wall to my right. I glanced over but kept my gun on him. The writing on the wall seemed to be done in black ink. 'Mom, I don't know if you are ahead or behind me, we got separated. I hope you are okay, one of those weird people bit me. I feel odd but I think I'm okay. I'm going to try and make it to the bus station.' I glance back over at him. I pointed at the writing. " Did you write this?" My voice was stronger now. The hunter slowly nodded. I finally put the gun back in it's holster. I sighed and took in a deep breath. " Well, I guess since your not talking, but are moving your hands around and not attacking me, you must be friendly." He nodded. I smiled and laughed a little. " Good because if not I was going to ask you to end me quickly." I watched as he lowered the hood a little so I couldn't see his eyes..

Finally I sat down on the floor with my legs out in front of me, he followed shortly after and took a seat too. I smirked as he sat Indian style. It was so predictable. " So, how old are you?" I started my questioning and interrogation. He seemed to think for a few minutes. Finally be reached out and scratched something in the concrete floor, 81. Since it was facing him I guessed that meant he was 18. A young age to be turned into a creature.

I sighed and lazed back stretching my legs out. " Ya know, I was 17 when this all hit. Actually it was just a bit after my birthday." I sighed. " Happy fucking birthday, a zombie apocalypse." I rolled onto my side and looked over at him. The hunter seemed to be on his side now as he listened. " My parents weren't infected when it hit. Though I told them I wanted a shotgun and bullets and that I was leaving. I took some money, gave them my wishes, love, and some advice on how to survive from a video game that came out. I have no idea if they, or if our pets are still alive. Actually I was to be going home, but I hear it's overrun down there so I decided to head toward a bigger city." I shook my head and sighed again. " I'm ranting and raving about my family. I bet you've had it worse, people shooting at you, limited food sources, and nobody to talk to." I shook my head and glanced back over at him. He seemed to be drawing circles in the concrete.

"I'd ask you how you became this or what happened, but I have no idea how I will be able to understand your answers." The hunter tried to cock his head but it didn't really work laying on his side. I gave him a few minutes to think about it. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and drew into the concrete. I raised up a little to see what it said, "aedi oN." I slowly turned it around by tracing it backwards in the concrete myself. "No idea?" I finally asked him. I watched as he slowly nodded. I started to chuckle. " You have no idea yet you wrote no idea into the concrete?" The hunter seemed to freeze at my words and think about it for a second.

Finally his hand moved toward his face, with his claws wide open. "Betcha feel stupid now huh?" I asked him teasingly. My only response was a growl. " So whats your name? The first question in everyone's book, I had to be obvious and normal huh? I heard the scratches in the concrete. I leaned up again and looked down at what he wrote,"hsoJ." I raised an eyebrow at this. " Josh? Really? Okay, names Steve, nice to meet ya." I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. "Josh, ya know what, I'm tired. If ya promise to watch out for any baddies, I'm gonna get some shut eye." I yawned to accent my point. I heard a short growl I took to mean he accepted our deal. Slowly I fell into an uncomfortable, uneasy sleep.


	2. The Decision

I blinked slowly. The room was still dark and quiet. Well quiet except for the sound of a sleeping hunter. I stretched my arms and sat up. A yawn escaped my mouth. I glanced over and noticed the hunter from last night hunched into a little ball with his back against a wall. I pushed myself up. I heard a low growl come from the corner where he was located. I smirked. " Good morning to you too. I'm going to be off in a bit, want to come with me?" My voice was that of someone who had just woken up and needed to get his motor started, but after a year of being on the run I had learned how to not have breakfast and wake up on my own. I continued stretching my arms and walked out of the room heading for the kitchen, not waiting for an answer.

The night before I had found some canned foods that looked edible. So yeah, I could live without breakfast, but do you really think I could pass up breakfast when there was food under my nose? I found the kitchen easily, but the food was an issue. Not everything there was, tasty. Even though there was a zombie apocalypse going on I was still a picky eater. I pushed through some cans in one of the cabinets on the wall.

" Ah look what I found! Ravioli, just what I don't want!" Like I said picky, but not stupid. I hadn't eaten for the last two days, and I needed the energy so I sucked up my courage and opened the can. I leaned back against the wall and ate my room temperature meal. My mind wandered back to my family. I had mentioned them to the hunter last night that it was supposedly over run down there and that I couldn't go home. I hated where my wishful thinking was going, but I knew I had to do it. I knew I had to go home and check on my family.

I heard a growl. Instead of getting out my gun and being ready to shoot I stayed calm and kept eating. The hunter, Josh, crawled into the room on all fours like an animal. I smiled at him and waved. "Good morning sleepy head." My voice was about as cheerful it could get while being uneasy. Even though I had slept in the same room as him and trusted him, it didn't help that he was a hunter.

Hunters had evolved and changed throughout the infection. From being almost normal, to boils all over the skin. Then the boils went away. It was almost as if they had caught a rash temporarily. Then their skin started to change again from the gray it had been to a grayish tan. The hunter I was looking at had went through a lot with his species. He also had a new hoodie and his teeth weren't stained red as much as other hunters. The duct tape was still there but it was looser, as if it was to help him jump but not cut off circulation. It also seemed the hunters in general had regained a part of them that witches and tanks may never get back.

I heard stories that some of the special infected were remembering before they changed and were trying to change because of it. That instead of hunting humans, some of them hunted the exploding wildlife populations. I sighed deeply and smiled at the hun... Josh. "Your company has been appreciated, but I've got to be going. I decided to head south and go home. Gotta see if the folks made it out alive." Josh turned and looked at me, or well the best he could with that hood over his eyes.

I heard a small growl come from him. I stepped over to a trashcan with rusty cans inside it and dropped my empty ravioli can inside to join them. I don't know why, but I took that growl to mean no. I ran my hand along the back of my neck as I turned back around to face him. "Josh, I'd love to stay, you've been a brilliant host and cool company, but I need to know if my family lived. It's bugging me. If you want, ya can join me." I shrugged my shoulder and kept rubbing the back of my neck.

You know the moment when you are just too embarrassed to say something? Imagine trying to say it to a creature who could kill you in seconds if they decided to. I chuckled lightly at the thought. "Know what I'm going to go before I finally just lose my mind completely. A few months of being on the road alone, with the rare survivor... not good on the mind." With that very happy speech I pulled out my pistol and headed out. Leaving Josh a little confused.

As soon as I was outside of the house I passed a few mindless infected who paid me no heed. I kept walking, hoping none of them realized my scent wasn't exactly infected. I made it to the gas station a block away before I had to do any fighting and shooting. A few quick pistol shots to the infected inside the store and I was done. I looked around for a bit, the coolers had some sodas that were warm, along with some sodas who acid had eroded away the plastic, leading them to spilled down into the cooler. I also found the isle with tape, and other junk, mostly stocked. I smirked as I seen a few rolls of duct tape untouched.

The hunters had the right idea. They were able to run and become more agile with their limbs taped up. I picked up a roll of tape and blew off the dust before I tore off the plastic covering. I put the tape around my arms and legs snugly before putting it around my waist too. I glanced around again looking for anything else I could use. Deciding that I was ready I took off at a sprint out of the store.

When the apocalypse had started I had been chubby male, weighting around 250 pounds. After a year of literally doing nothing but running I had built up my stamina and gained more muscle with less fat. My rather long brown, curly hair, bounced into my eyes a little, I reached up and pushed it out of my eyes. I headed down the street beside the gas station toward what looked to be a creek at the bottom of the hill. I noticed at the bottom there were a pair of train tracks and a bus depot on the other side the tracks. Maybe I could find a ride out at the bus depot.

My sprint toward the bus depot was interrupted by hunter howl. I kept running not wanting to see if it was Josh or another hunter. I felt the urge to duck, I listened and ducked into a roll. I felt something sail right over where I had been running. I kicked up with my feet as I completed the roll and kept running. " Tried to attack me, not friendly!" I yelled to the air behind me.

I heard another howl, this time I knew he was going to expect me to roll so I did the opposite. When the instinct came to duck I jumped. The hunter sailed below me, missing once again. As I came back down I tucked into a roll and popped back up like before. " Fuck off you psycho hunter!" Was I scared? Hell yeah, I'm not immune. I've just been lucky enough to kill them before they could get close enough before. I glanced up, the railroad tracks and bus deport seemed like heaven now. I pulled out my pistol and flipped the safety off as I ran. " Try me now bastard!" I yelled at the hunter.

I felt as if he was on my left. I hap haphazardly glanced over and shot at where I thought he was. I heard a screech of pain. " I warned you!" I yelled at him. My blood was pumping through my veins now. I noticed that the train tracks and bus depot were now only a block away. " Leave me the fuck alone!" I yelled over my shoulder. I had a feeling that I might get attacked from the back this time. So I turned right as sharp as I could without hurting anything. I aimed behind me and shot again. I heard the bullet hit pavement this time. " Damn" I mumbled to myself as I ran down the new street.

I heard some glass break in a house on my right. I turned left back onto a street heading toward the creek. I could see the tracks again but not the bus depot. "Why me, why the fuck me?" My question was answered be a hunter howl. I stopped and ducked. The creature flew over me, his claws scratching the cloth on my arms. As soon as he was over I stood up and started firing my pistol at him. " Die motherfucker! Die!" My voice was strained from how much I was yelling. Finally the hunter in question stopped moving. I reloaded my pistol quickly and shot it in the head a with a bullet or two to make sure it was dead. "Fucking bastard, I told you to leave me alone." My wheezing wasn't helping the situation any. I took in a deep breath and sat down on the pavement. After a few minutes I had my breathing and heart rate under control.

I glanced over at the body of the hunter, it's blood slowly flowed down the hill away from it. My sigh of relief was mixed with pain. I was tired of running, and I was definitely tired of being one of the few to not just get infected with it already. I had thought of giving up and letting them get me but I was appalled at the thought. I would much rather go out fighting. I massaged the temple of my forehead and sighed again. This was going to be a long day.

I glanced down at the empty railroad tracks, rust was starting to cover the rails. Just another reminder that life was no longer normal. Pushing myself up I wobbled a little bit as I started to head down the hill again. This time at a slow walk.

Stumbling across a rail I almost face planted into the concrete. Luckily my hands reached the ground and took the force of my fall. Great, even a year after a zombie apocalypse and I could still be a clumsy fool. Pushing myself up I glanced down to see rock and rubble on my hands along with some scratches and bruises. Now I'm also self inflicting harm, what could go wrong.

As I stood there I glanced right down the tracks and then left toward the bus depot. Choices, choices, so many choices. Wiping the rocks off on my blue jeans I decided to head right, down the tracks. Might find something useful that way. A year after the infection, I doubt there was anyone at that bus depot anyway.

As I stepped off the road and onto the ties I noticed that there were no boxcars or anything blocking the tracks. Maybe I'd find a locomotive with fuel in it. Would make traveling so much easier with the tracks this empty. Trying to keep from falling or alerting any common I stepped from tie, to tie. If this had been a year earlier I would have had my Ipod out and listened to music, sadly it went dead four weeks ago. I had since then learned to just keep walking and keep thinking.

Actually my Ipod was in my pocket with its charger cord in case I ever found a computer that I could plug it into to charge it. Crickets and frogs chirped at the end of a summer afternoon. The nights and evenings were getting cooler now. Internally I wondered what month it was. After a while days turned into months and months turned into years.

I had actually lost count a long time ago. The few times I had figured out what month it was, was when I charged my Ipod which had an inbuilt calendar. Last time had been before I went to Pittsburgh. That would mean the last time I knew the month was when I was in Chicago, that was near the beginning of August. I laughed at that a little. I had been so stupid. When the infection first hit I had taken my family's Kia, a shotgun, and headed west. The Kia is actually sitting at a house in San Francisco.

Since the world went to hell I just fueled the car up and kept going. I mean there was no need to pay since those manning the gas stations were zombies. When I made it to San Francisco I had actually been welcomed into a small survivor community which had grown and grown. After a while the city was mostly back to normal. Gays, lesbians, straight couples, insane people with signs, and some nudists had survived and rebuilt the city's population well into the thousands. I laughed at the memory. That was probably the most insane and was sure to be one of the top ten most epic things I had seen during this apocalypse. Though, those let in right before I left were some of the most interesting, but I tend to forget about their differences when I think of how nice they all were.

My mind put on the emergency breaks suddenly. I stood still and listened for the sound that had caused me to go on high alert. I heard it again, a gurgling. " Fuck, a boomer." I felt like slapping myself. Really do I have to keep stating the obvious, out loud at that? I mean, I am alone. Raising my pistol again I glanced around. I was now around a bend on the train tracks. To my left was a gentle slope down to the creek to my right on the other hand was a cliff rising above my head. I put caution to the wind and picked up my pace walking. " I'm warning you fatso, stay away!" Ever want to say something and have it ruined by an echo? Yeah standing next to this cliff I ended up getting that effect meaning my insult was repeated more than once.

Keeping my eyes on alert I kept searching left and right and at random intervals I would look behind me. I heard the gurgling getting loader. Yeah, I had had enough of the loud gurgling noises and no idea where he was. I took off at a sprint, trying my best to stay on the ties. I sprinted along the bend as the tracks went right, suddenly a wish was granted. I seen a train in the distance sitting in front of a signal which was blank from the lack of power. I also noticed some commons wandering around it. I jumped over the rail on my left and tried my best to go over the next rail. I groaned as I stumbled a little into the middle of the second track. Glancing behind me I also got another wish, the boomer chasing me was now standing at the bottom of the cliff on the tracks. Aiming my pistol haphazardly behind me I took a shoot. A loud explosion told me that I had achieved my goal. " One point for Survivor, 0 for boomer." Did you know murmuring when running can cause you to stumble?

As I stumbled I tried my best to regain my balance while still sprinting toward the locomotive of the train. As I passed boxcars,tank cars, and coal cars I took aim and tried to take out the commons as I got closer. I shot the head off one wearing a striped engineer cap. I smirked as I passed his body. " Hope you don't mind if I borrow it buddy." Yes, I was talking to a corpse, so what? I climbed up the small ladder onto the platform along the locomotive. " Please have gas, please have gas."

I walked down the platform and opened the door leading to the cab. As I stepped in I closed the door behind me and noticed a panel on the back wall was open. I stepped over and read what it said. The dipping sun helped illuminate some of the fading words. After a few seconds of reading I decided that the locomotive had been shut down before they left it here. Time to remedy that, I flipped all the off switches to on from left to right. After flipping all of them on I didn't hear anything new, nothing that sounded like a motor anyway.

Frustrated I stepped over to the engineers' chair and took a seat. Chewing my lip I glanced up at the controls and a mirror on the side of the cab. My brow furrowed at what was in the mirror. Two panels were open on the side of the locomotive and there was a dead body on the railing, though it seemed to be rotting away. I stepped out of the cab cautiously. I glanced around out of paranoia. I took a shot at the corpse to make sure it really was dead, it didn't move after I shot it.

I stepped over to see what was inside. I glanced at what the corpse was looking at. I smiled at what I saw, the engine. " Why thank you my dead friend. This is just what I was looking for." Turning back to the task at hand I reached in and turned the nob I saw on the left.. After holding it there for a few seconds it seemed to catch. Reaching over I pulled both doors over and closed them. In a little better mood I reentered the cab and closed the door behind me. The gauges and displays were coming to life inside. " Maybe ya have enough gas to at least get us to the next town?" I glanced over at the fuel gauge, she had maybe a quarter of a tank left. Enough to maybe make it to the next town and maybe more.

Suddenly I heard two sounds I had not wanted to hear. A hunter howl, and a hordes scream. I clumsily reached over the forced the brake lever over to fully released. I let out a sigh as the locomotive started to slowly move. The squeal of wheels that had been rusted and left alone for almost a year reached my ears. I reached over and applied some pressure to the throttle, we needed to get moving. I heard the horde scream again. The hunters yell came shortly after. The locomotive started pulling ahead. The cars behind it unused to moving let me know of their protest.

I watched the speedometer slowly rise, two miles per hours, 4 miles per hour, and six miles per hour. Glancing back I noticed some infected that had managed to get on board were clawing at the door. Taking out my pistol I shot at them. I turned back to the controls and pulled the throttle half way. " Take that zombies, I dare ya to chase me now." I turned back around to face the last two or three.

I quickly dealt with them. We were picking up speed now. Ten miles per hour, thirteen miles per hour,and sixteen miles per hour. I glanced over at the other door and Noticed a zombie or two banging on it. I stood up and strolled over staring at them. I shook my head and shot them both in the head.

Turning my focus and attention back to the rails I watched as our train slowly rolled across a switch. Now the tracks were down from two to one. Stepping back over to the engineers seat I decided to sit down and watch as the scenery passed by. The locomotive topped a speed of thirty miles per hour after a few minutes. As long as we didn't meet a tank or another train we'd be okay. Actually it was sorta entertaining to watch some dazed common get hit by our train. Nothing this large had come down these tracks in almost a year if not more.

As it was becoming darker I realized I needed headlights. Unless I particularly wanted to run head first into a stopped train or destroyed track. Glancing around at the controls my eyes landed on the small dial labeled " headlights". I turned it all the way to the right. A bright light burst in front of the locomotive illuminating the tracks. Chuckling I reached over and pulled the horn letting out a loud blast. I was thoroughly enjoying this, something I hadn't been able to do much since the apocalypse hit.

I watched as we passed through some metal girders on a bridge finally crossing the creek. The tracks slowly started to bend to the right again. Slowly a faint glow in the distance started to get brighter.

It must have been a survivor camp, one of the many across America. I chuckled at the thought of the survivors who lived there seeing one of their own passing them on a train. An even better thought though was how would they react at seeing something that made it feel like a normal world again.

As I neared the camp I pulled on the horn. I watched the glow get brighter as we neared. It must have been pandemonium as I watched people run out of shacks and go to the banks of the creek. I pulled the horn again as I passed by on the other side of the creek. In the dim light you could see some of their faces. I noticed a range from surprised looks to that of loathing for the day of normal to return. A few just looked on in happiness at something new. I inwardly cheered myself on as I once again pulled the horn, as if assuring them that this was real and not a dream. I hoped that this gave them some courage that the world came go back to the way it was.

I glanced into the mirror and watched the camp disappeared into the turn. As the train rounded a bend to the left I glanced over at the fuel meter. I felt my smile mostly fade away. I had probably another three, four hours worth of gas. I looked up and watched the dark country side pass by me. Maybe we'd be able to reach a town soon and I could take cover. I sighed and just sat back. Might as well enjoy what is left of the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May 12,2013
> 
> Welcome to Changing World, and I'm your author, Wolfen Victrocious, also known as Alphathewolf on some sites. What you are reading is my take on how the infection virus mutated and changed after a year and how the world reacts to the end of the world after it's no longer the end of the world. This is a revised version of the original chapters that can be found on ff.net
> 
> So with that I welcome you aboard and as your engineer I would like to kindly mention that new chapters will be posted every Saturday/Sunday.


	3. Chilly Morning

My eyes snapped open. The cold steel and frosty air met my body. I was stiff, but that was to be expected since I had slept on the floor. Glancing up from my hiding spot, under a small counter top for the conductor, I noticed that there was fog outside the window along with some trees. It looked like we had stopped in a very, lightly, forested area. It was definitely morning, and a rather fallish morning at that. My body was on high alert though, ready to attack. Last night I had left the engine on after a while and decided to try and sleep. If we hit anything I'd be shocked awake by the impact, or dead. Either way I'd end up better off than I was.

There was a scratch at one of the doors. I must have heard it in my sleep, waking me up. The metallic scratch came again. Crawling out of my hiding spot I got ready to fight what ever it was be it common infected or a tank. Time had taught me that constant vigilance was needed in the mornings. Well, more like mornings when I woke up and had no idea where I was. I stifled a yawn as I turned the safety off my gun. Every night I put my gun on safety so I didn't shoot myself while I slept. Great way to make sure I don't commit suicide in my dreams.

I stood up slowly. My eyes glanced from one door to the other. The scratching had stopped all of a sudden and nothing was in sight out the doors' windows. I decided to take in my surroundings since the immediate danger was gone.

Outside of the train I seen the creek had grown into a river and was now on the left side of the train now. I looked to my right and seen that we were in a very light section of the forest like I thought. On the other side of the trees, maybe three yards away I seen a road, or what had at one time been a road.

Suddenly there was a loud bang behind me, as if something had fallen on the hood of the engine. Spinning around fast I aimed my gun at what ever had fallen. On the hood laid a figure. He wore a dirty black hoodie and had dark chocolate brown hair. I smirked as I recognized the hoodie. "Ya know ya could of just knocked on the door like a normal person?"

I opened the door behind the engineer's seat and walked down the platform. A chuckle left me as I heard him give a half moan half growl as he started to come too. Stepping down the steps I looked around in case of attack. Seeing no threat, I hopped down and started to walk around to the front of the locomotive to see how my hunter friend was doing. Once reaching the front I climbed the steps back onto the front platform. "Josh, ya know this isn't how I prefer waking up but it'll do." Chuckling I heard another soft growl as he came into view. Said hunter was rubbing the back of his head. Rolling my eyes I decided to take hold of the situation and make sure he didn't hurt anything.

Glancing over his body I didn't see anything out of place and his bodily functions seemed to be working from where I could see. "Ya look alright. Now get up ya big baby." A growl that seems like a fuck off came from him. I smirked at that. " Ya are getting better at that. Maybe in half a year we can have ya speakin again." Josh slowly moved his hand and raised it into the air. Slowly all his claws but the middle one closed. "Ya know, I wouldn't mind that, but not right now." His hand must have lost the energy it had gained as it fell limp and hit the hood. I chuckled and shook my head as I turned back toward the front.

A large smile was playing on my lips as I started to walk away. " Ya going to go back to following me at a distance or are ya going to come with me this time?" I stepped off the front of the locomotive and landed on my toes. I glanced behind me to see him slowly stretching his sore limbs. " Ya know, I don't know how ya did it but next time, don't land on ya head." The only reply I got was a growl.

Shaking my head I took off at a gentle stroll toward the road. Branches and a leaf or two crunched under my feet as I walked. I glanced over my shoulder after a few minutes and seen Josh following me. He looked awkward the way he was walking straight up as if he was trying to be normal or like a board. I shook my head at his antics and continued walking toward the road.

Josh was slightly odd, while he was friendly, he seemed almost iffy about being around me. As if he would attack me after losing an internal battle or something. Survivors and infected have worked before but this seemed to be something else. Most of the survivors who worked with friendly infected most likely were immune and could take it if their infected snapped, I couldn't. I would most likely either die or become infected myself.

Sighing I stepped onto the pavement. Grass was starting to come through the cracks in the road. " Might as well follow the river, might lead us to Pittsburgh or another city. Then we can see about getting a car or new transportation there before heading south." I was determined to get home. No matter the cost I was going home. So we started walking along the stretch of road in front of us.

After an hour of walking we came across a sign, 'Pittsburgh 3 Miles.' I glanced over at Josh and smiled. " My luck has always been good but not this good. It's as if you're my own good luck charm" Josh growled a little at that and I laughed. As I went back to facing forward I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Josh was smiling a little.

Another two hours and there was a city limits sign for Pittsburgh. The morning fog had by now disappeared and the air was warming up. After some memory searching I knew for sure we were maybe in September or late August with this type of weather.

A slight haze hung around the city. After many months of seeing the same haze in many cities I finally figured out what it was. This haze, was a sign of destruction, a sign of the end. It showed that life in that area had mostly ended and mostly in a violent way. It was a residue of the pollution and murders that took place here. Cities like New York, and Chicago had a lot of this haze in areas that seemed to have the highest body count or had the most pollution. Not exactly sure why it exists now but now that it does I've come to be used to it.

Having been to Pittsburgh recently I knew where the survivor colony was. It was stretched between two locations. The old Amtrak train station, and the Carnegie Science Museum. Two random locations, almost. It was random till you realized how perfect it was. The colony here consisted well over a thousand people and was mostly alright with infected coming in as long as they were friendly. Interestingly enough the area contained in the colony was the Point State Park, the Heinz Field, and the PNC field. Each large enough to house a few hundred people. Tho the PNC Field and train station had been turned into markets for shopping and trading.

The world was changing once again with the allowance of the intelligent infected, like here in Pittsburgh. Cities like New York, Chicago, and Detroit didn't allow infected into their colonies for fear of being over thrown or just plain prejudice. Even Pittsburgh had a limit of only 3 intelligent infected at once.

After about an hour of walking we reached one of the entrances to the colony. I glanced behind me to the old bus depot then turned my gaze back to the heavily armed security guarding the gate to the train station. The world has changed a lot in a year. After a thorough check they let Josh and I pass saying that only one other intelligent infected was inside at the moment.

As we entered I heard Josh give a quiet screech in amazement. What could, was salvaged. Metal was welded and boards were nailed. In front of us a train station had turned into a concourse of stores and looked more like a mall than the seating area it once was. Smiling I lead the way into the colony passed the souvenir, clothing, and gun stores in this section of the market.

Last time I was here I visited a cousin of mine. She had made it to Pittsburgh with her husband shortly after the infection hit. Actually she was one of the founders of the colony along with her husband. Them and around seven others had banded together at the Carnegie Science Museum and had created this. They were immune unlike I, who was not. Actually it was at her place I had heard about West Virginia's downfall and the astronauts.

We stepped out of the back of the train station and into a street, a semi bustling street at that. "I know this is odd, but some how they figured out a way to give everyone jobs and keep everyone busy. I have no idea how they did it, but they did. The closest civilization has come to once again, being civilized." I glanced over at Josh and smiled. I knew he couldn't reply but I knew this all needed a bit explaining to help him figure it out. A few cars drove down the street, solar panels powered them now instead of gas. After we walked a block or two and stopped numerous times for Josh to take in something or someone wanted to try and sell us something. We finally made it to my cousin's building and entered the front. It was a gorgeous building, most of the outside was covered in black glass and inside it was a mix of black tiles and tiles that looked like white marble.

The receptionist glanced up and smiled at me. " Thought you were heading to the big apple Steve?" She was pretty, in her late 20's, blonde hair, dark green eyes, a voice that reminds you of a those country singers, and extremely pale skin. Actually she almost looked like a ghost with the lack of pigment, but I didn't remark on it because of how pale I used to be myself. "Janis, ya know I can't leave ya too long. Actually I decided to go home. Josh here helped me decide." I waved over at Josh who stood a little behind me as if using my for a meat shield.

I watched as her eyebrows raised. " I know Janis, but he's cool. Not much a talker but cool..." I chuckled a little as I noticed this didn't help Janis. " Seriously, I'll be okay round him. He would never hurt me on purpose." I heard a small snort behind me. Probably the first I ever come from him actually. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. " Can't ya tell I'm trying to reassure the lady?" I pointedly asked him. Josh put his hands up in surrender and waved for me to continue.

I heard Janis giggle a little. " You know Steve, I think you should keep him. He might help you out in more ways than one." I rolled my eyes at her and started walking toward the stairs. I looked over at Janis before entering the stairwell. " Melinda in?" I asked. Janis looked at a book in front of her for a second before looking back up at me with a smile. " Says she checked in last night around 10 PM and hasn't left yet." I nodded toward her. " Thanks Janis, see you round." With my thanks I turned round and headed up the stairs, Josh close behind me.

Twenty floors up I turned into the hall way on my right. I heard Josh panting a little behind me. "Don't worry man. She lives nearby. It won't be much farther." I heard Josh cough behind me. I chuckled a little and walked up to her door. I knocked on the steel door. " Hey Melinda, it's Steve. I have company with me, can I come in?" I heard high heels on the other side of the door.

I backed up as the door swung toward us. Standing in front of us was a woman in her early 20's. She had light brown hair, sort of a nasal sound to her voice that didn't sound off, and a slim figure. "Melinda, it's so nice to see you again." If a voice could radiate love I was sure mine was now. She was the only family I'd been able to find after the apocalypse. She smiled warmly at me and moved forwards to give me a hug. "Steven,what have you gotten yourself into now?" As she back away from the hug I gasped, trying my best to give off a shocked look. "Moi, in trouble? Never." Melinda just laughed and waved us in.

Josh and I stepped into her apartment, the door closing behind us. Turning to Melinda I gave her a sheepish smile. " Actually I'm here because I need to know some information about West Virginia, and I was wondering if there was a place to get some transport to head down south." Melinda frowned at that. "Steven, you know that it's overrun what else do you need to know?" I stepped toward her dinning room and waved for her to take a seat.

Melinda rolled her eyes but obeyed. After she was seated I started to talk. " Alright, I need to know if there are any settlements down there, I also need to know if the railroads tracks are clear, And I'd like to know if the river is also clear. If we have to, Josh and I are going to take either a train or boat down to Old Martins, as I hear it's called now." I smiled over at her as she glanced at the hunter with me. I noticed she frowned as she realized he was infected. " Don't worry, he's perfectly safe." I reassured her.

After a few minutes of letting her think Melinda finally just sighed. "Alright I'll get you your info but don't leave my apartment till I get back." I nodded understanding what she meant. "Okay now does the TV still work? I was thinking about trying to catch of glimpse of the apocalypse traffic report." Melinda rolled her eyes as she went around getting her coat and things together. "Yes Steven, the TV still works, we also got the computer to work so you can charge that dingy old Ipod of yours. I have no idea how you keep that thing from becoming ruined." Before she left Melinda put on a pair of tennis shoes, putting her high heels beside the door. "Now behave. The both of you." I smiled and waved goodbye to her.

As the door closed I looked over at Josh. "I might as well get my Ipod charged, if you want you can turn on the TV. If I remember right news is on channel 3." With that I turned and walked out of the room and into a small hall.

About two doors down I turned left into Melinda's office, being a co-founder she had got a job as head of communications. Something she was good at, once having worked for a telephone company before the apocalypse. That meant she was in charge of getting telephones, internet, and even cell phones working again. With her miniature army of workers I heard they almost had it complete last time I was here.

Inside her office I found the computer on and running as well as a desk covered in papers. I plugged my Ipod in using the charging cable I had brought. Glancing around I noticed that most the papers were old military orders along with a few old transcripts from CEDA investigations during the first few days. It wasn't really out of the ordinary to find these here, but it did leave me curious as to why she would have them, and not the head of security.

Stepping out of the office I walked back down the hall to find Josh crouched next to the couch, watching TV. The Pittsburgh survivors had found an old TV broadcast lab and had mainly brought it back to life with solar panels, and lots of wire. Infected were not allowed in there as it was to dangerous and too important to lose. "The area around Pittsburgh is almost void of any common infected anymore, other news reports are coming in, up the river of a lone survivor seen passing by on a train last night. It is said that a shadowy survivor was seen driving a freight train towards Pittsburgh late last night. The survivor colony it passed reported it was shocked and excited at the view the survivor had given them. It is thought this survivor might make it into the city later today, we will keep you up to date on this story as more comes in.. Now for the weather, over to you Brad." I glanced over at Josh and laughed. "Looks like we made the news bud."

I took a seat on the couch in front of the flat screen TV and continued watching with Josh. When they got back to the news desk there wasn't much new. A scavenge team had found some overgrown fields with corn, a boy was crying to the reporters about how a priest had molested him after a group of infected had killed his parents, and how one of the local actresses was trying to lose weight for her next roll as a witch in a local comedy show. Even in a zombie apocalypse TV stayed the same.

After three hours the front door opened and in strode Melinda. In her arms she was carrying four rolls of paper. "Okay I got the info you wanted." I noticed she watched me out of the corner of her eye as she put the papers down on her dinning room table. I smiled at her. "What, do you expect me to turn into a tank or something?" Melinda shook her head as if shaking a thought away.

"Alright, now the main roads down to West Virginia were blocked many times with many blockades, meaning most likely there were a lot of car jams so taking a car is out of the question. The rivers on the other hand, any boats or barges most likely have run aground quickly with the river being so curvy. It is unknown if the river is clear though since the military was bombing bridges. We have a few boats ready if you wish to go that way. Also, you asked about the railroad. According to the maps and some old recordings I found it seems the line was pretty much dead that day. The only train in that area was filled with supplies and it made it to its destination. Now if you were to take a train down that way it might be difficult. The only train that we have nearby is over near the PNC Market. The biggest issue for you will be fuel, but I can see if we can take a team over there and fuel it up if you wish." Melinda glanced up from her maps up at me. I rubbed my wispy beard and started to pace.

After a few minutes of pacing I finally stopped. Sighing deeply I rubbed my forehead. I pointed at the map of the railroad. "If I took the train, all I have to worry about is having enough fuel to make it past Wheeling since most of the track before that is in Ohio. I doubt a boat would make it. To many chances that bridges have been destroyed and clog up the river. Then we have the train bridge in Ohio, could have been bombed but I doubt it. A car, like you said, is impossible with all these blockades. I mean what were they thinking!" Taking a seat at the table I looked at the fourth map which showed how the outbreak reached certain areas and how bad it was now according to scavenge teams.

Mainly it looked like the infected were sticking to the roads and towns. Towns that used to house maybe ten families now housed nearly fifty zombies. It literally was overrun. A train would bypass the towns, but it would attract hordes everywhere it went through. As long as the train didn't hit a tank or other larger infected it would be alright. Glancing over at another paper on the side I found it had details of the train over by the PNC Stadium.

"SD50, never drove one of those. Wonder if the start up is like an SD40, doubt it. Try and get me an ex-engineer with the group just in case it isn't. Seeing as most of cars on this train were passenger cars it will be a little fast. Tho I am curious as to why it is sitting over there. Maybe an evacuation train that never left? Melinda can we get a group together and ready by tonight to investigate and fuel it up?" I looked up at her hopefully. She stood there hunched over the maps for a few minutes. I watched as the skin on her forehead bunched up in thought."Quite possibly but aren't you rushing it a bit?" Concern and confusion laced her voice. I knew that I was being hasty, but this opportunity wouldn't stay there long.

Melinda sighed heavily as she noticed I wasn't budging. She turned and headed toward the door to go set up a group. Before she closed the door she looked back at me. "Steven, you owe me one after this." I smiled towards her and waved her off. "Yeah, but then you'll owe me one day and we'll be even." I heard her laugh as she closed the door behind her.

I sighed once she was gone and looked over at Josh. He cocked his head to the side a little. "I love her dearly, but we can't stay here. We gotta move out soon and hopefully with transportation and protection to said transport."I looked toward the window and noticed incoming rain clouds. I glanced back at Josh and noticed that he was shaking his head. I felt defeated by such a simple move. "I'm gonna go get some rest Josh, you can sleep with me in the guest room if you want." I turned and headed toward the guest room.

The TV was still blaring as I left the room. Thunder rolled through the building. I glanced back and watched Josh turn off the TV and start coming in my direction. I smiled and shook my head as I went into the guest room for some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May 19th, 2013
> 
> There wasn't much to change here but I find it very interesting to read and rework with the older, original chapters. Right about now when I originally wrote this, I had no clue where I was going, I only had a few scribbles of ideas of what the world looked like. It's interesting seeing how most of what I thought would be nothing turned into something large and how things I thought would be large have turned out to be miniscule. I just guess that's the joy of just writing what your gut tells you to and going along for the ride like you, the readers.


	4. Memories

I glanced over toward Josh. He kept looking forward into the empty passenger car, almost as if he were uneasy. Chairs seemed to have been ripped out and a bloody battle had commenced. Blood was everywhere it seemed. The walls were a brownish red paint so the blood almost mixed in. My stomach turned knots as I gazed at the gore surrounding us.

It was nearly eight at night. Melinda had kept her promise and had gotten a group together quickly. She on the other hand got her revenge and had offered me up to inspect the cars while the rest guarded the locomotive. Not sure if this was revenge for making her rush or the time I dressed up and pretended to be infected during this past Easter. In the end she rushed me to the medic thinking I was infected. As soon as the doctor and I were behind closed doors and alone I told him what was going on. He actually went along with it and we had a mighty good laugh. Melinda on the other hand had been pissed.

Josh and I just stood at the door a little longer, a M16 in my hands ready to explore the cars. Finally I sighed, a little defeated, and shook my head. As I stepped forward a smoker stepped out of his hiding place behind the doorway at the other end of the car. His tongue shot out and grabbed me. The slimy appendage wrapped around my waist. Before I could even take a moment to scream, I heard a wet rip. The tongue around me went slack. "Yuck, gross!" Yes, I was whining, but imagine if you had a slimy tongue around your waist. Not a fun experience. Turning around I noticed Josh was standing there smiling devilishly at the smoker, it seemed to be puffing off some extra smoke in anger from having its tongue cut.

Raising my M16, I took aim, I watched as the smoker stopped puffing off smoke. The smoker had gone from predator to prey. "Adios." My voice seemed to carry through the empty car. I let loose a burst of bullets into the smoker. A cloud of smoke exploded. The body fell to the ground, bouncing lightly as it landed. Not taking any chances I shot it a few more times, just to make sure it was dead.

I stepped forward and walked over the body and into the next car. The second car had a few stragglers and I let loose a spray of bullets into them. When I was sure they were dead we kept walking through the car. As we stepped into the third car we found out where the seats had gone. Who ever the survivors were on this train, they had tried to build a small fort using the seats as a wall. A hole the shape of a charger in the center showed the issue. The metal used for the chairs were okay for keeping normal infected out, but not for chargers and stronger infected.

We stepped through the hole and found we were in a dining car. It looked like before the charger had bust through the wall this must have been their surgical ward. The tables were bloody and surgical equipment was set up. I shot at three stumbling zombies as we walked through the car.

As we neared the back I found a small kitchen area. Inside was a guy with his head literally chopped off with a butcher knife. A bit of the spinal cord stuck out of the body where the head had been dispatched. The flesh seemed to have deteriorated some, but not enough having been locked in this enclosed space. I backed out and back into the hall. I closed the door behind me to block out the sight and smell.

As I started walking down the hall toward the last car I started speaking out loud toward Josh."After the infection began, people lost their minds. Some quite literally. Everyone feared that everyone was infected. Very few trusted each other. That man didn't seem infected. He was murdered in fear that he was infected. Think about it for a second though, without order, murders could murder, rapists could do what ever they wanted with lone survivors they found, and sadly that means even the most psychotic killer was let loose, usually they either lived, or died meeting their first tank. It is said hundreds of survivors who weren't killed by the infection and zombie probably died at the hands of other humans."

I sighed as we entered the last car. Quickly my frown turned in to a smile. "Lookie here Josh, an observation car. I always wanted to ride in one of these when I was a kid." Striding into the room I took a look around. The back of the car was oval shaped with a nice panoramic window to look out the back. There was a bar near the front of the car and it seemed to contain a few alcoholic beverages still on the shelf in their original container. Those bottles would probably go for a good deal of rare equipment these days.

A lone zombie, in a bar tending outfit, stood up, wobbly, behind the counter. I smirked as I shot the guy in the head. "No zombies, no service." Josh stayed near the front of the car and watched me curiously. I waved my hands in the air pointing my gun at the ceiling. " What? I just like having fun with them. They're dead already so why not pick on em?" Josh shook his head slowly, obviously ashamed for having deciding to go with me.

Rolling my eyes I unclasped the walkie talkie from my belt. "Team alpha this is team bravo. The train is secure, I repeat the train is secure. Also, there is alcohol in the last car if ya'll want something to take with ya." I waited for a few minutes. "Team bravo this is leader of team alpha. Techie almost has the objective. Please return to designated home base." I nodded over at Josh. He shook his head again and turned around heading back to the front of the train. "Team bravo copies. ETA four minutes." I clasped the walkie talkie back on my belt and followed Josh back to the front.

As we walked back through the empty train my mind flickered to scene, vaguely. The train had been slowly down for a stop. I blinked and suddenly the car was filled with bodies. People were just laying on the tables,a few with their stomachs wide open in the middle of surgery. I squeaked when a large shape bust out of the wall in front of me and ran right at me. I closed my eyes waiting for impact. When none came I opened my eyes to see the hole the charger had made in the wall of chairs. Josh was on the other side waiting. I quickly shook my head and followed him. These visioned happened every once in a while but I've gotten used to just telling myself that their day dreams.

Entering the next car, it happened again. Suddenly there was a battle going on, soldiers were coming from behind me and firing at the hordes of zombies entering from the first car. I swung around and seen some people being supported. They were trying to escape the train. A growl sounded behind me. I squeaked and turned to see Josh standing there.

Taking a deep breath I started walking again. Josh fell in behind me. He seemed a little worried about my outburst of looking and reacting at nothing. I was sorta hoping it would just end so we could get out of here.

If only my hopes of getting out were answered, as I entered the first car a more violent scene played. Soldiers, doctors, even a few civilians were all in various states of being ripped apart and eaten. Blood sprayed from arteries on to the walls and infected standing round. Bones were being gnawed on as the skin and organs were devoured. I felt bile rise in my throat. Gagging I bent over and tried to catch my breath.

Suddenly I felt a clawed hand on my back. It slowly rubbed up and then back down. As if he was trying to comfort me. I looked up and came eye to eye with Josh. His red burning eyes seemed to dig into my soul. They were filled with confusion and worry. I let loose a shaken sigh and whimpered. "Please get me out of here Josh, please." I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I glanced back down at the floor as Josh put his arm around my back and slowly dragged me out of the train car.

As we reached the door between the passenger cars and the engine I sniffed and tried to become as composed as I could. If the leader of team alpha seen me all teary and unstable he might call off the mission and call a retreat thinking I was a child, though technically I am.

I opened the door and stepped out onto the platform of the SD50. I went right and walked along the platform to the cab. I opened the door and stepped in. "Team bravo reporting, sir." The team leader, Alex, was a friend of Melinda's and I trusted him, mostly. He nodded. "At ease team bravo. The engineer says he will start the engine as soon as your ready." I nodded and took a seat in the engineer seat. Josh closed the door behind him and stood beside me. I glanced out the windshield and into the early night. " Alex, I wish for you and your team to guard the train from the ground till the engineer has started the train. He will soon jump off after it is started. I suggest ya'll hurry back to the colony. After the engine starts it will call a horde."

I glanced up to see Alex smirking. " Thought you might say that. My team is in position and we will be there to catch the engineer when he jumps. A group has been stationed at the gate closest to us in case we need help. Good luck on your expedition Steven. I hope you find what you're looking for." His speech was comforting, mostly. He stuck out his hand. Smiling I reached out and grasped it firmly in a handshake. "Thank you Alex, for everything." He nodded and then exited the cab.

I glanced over at Josh and smiled. " Ya might as well take the conductor's seat and watch the mirror, growl when the engineer is off." Josh nodded and took his position, sitting awkwardly in the conductor's seat. After a few minutes I heard the engine give life. I glanced at the fuel gauge and watched the need sky rocket.

Josh gave a short growl. I reached over and pulled the brake lever into the released position. The locomotive started moving. I hit the bell button and held it down for a few minutes. The train started moving slowly. Reaching over I pulled the throttle up three notches. I nodded as I watched the speedometer slowly rise. I reached over and pulled the horn for two short blasts. Standard protocol is uncalled for, but it would cause enough noise to bring the horde to us and away from Pittsburgh.

The horde yells came. Zombies seemed to appear from every nook and cranny of the city as they flocked to our train. I glanced over and seen Josh was smirking. "Fun isn't it?" I got a small growl in response. I chuckled as we started mowing through zombies. As the train moved forward the track became more wooded on the left. Three tracks to our right it was also getting wooded. The tracks actually went through the Allegheny Commons Park. For less than a half mile the tracks would be the most wooded they would get for a while.

After a few seconds we went under the first of many streets we would go under. After that we went under an avenue. Zombies were jumping off the streets and into the trains path. They seemingly appeared from nowhere as they come rushing out of the woods as they tried to attack our giant machine of death.

An hour later and we were out of Pittsburgh. Our train was doing a moderate twenty five miles per hour now. Some lucky zombies were now dead outside the doors to the cab. I glanced out Josh's window. This leg of the journey seemed to stick right to the edge of the river.

Our headlight was illuminating the darkness of night that had settled in. We had barely left the city but old traffic jams and blockades lined the road on our right. The river on the other hand was another issue, barges and boats seemed to be floating everywhere. A few had actually landed on the bank next to the tracks and gave us some close calls. Other areas were blocked by bridges that had been blown up to quarantine towns. From the look of the zombies around us, it didn't work.

Standing up from my seat I stretched my arms. Josh was no longer sitting in his seat. He was crouched on it looking much like a hunter statue. I smiled at him sadly. "Sorry that I couldn't get you better seating. I think we have an hour and a half before we reach Wheeling." Josh stared at me for a few and then nodded curtly. He returned his gaze back to the front of the train.

I continued looking at him for a few minutes before sighing and taking my seat. "Ya need to learn how to speak. I'm getting tired of the guessing games. One minute it's easy to read, and the next it's hard as if you are intentionally trying to confuse me." With that I pulled the M16 over my head and leaned it up against the wall on my right.

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my Ipod and headphones. I smirked as I put on the headphones and plugged them into my Ipod. I scrolled down to the calendar option "Lets see what today is." The illuminated screen popped up. I raised my eyebrows a bit at the date. "Well lookie here. It's September 8th,2010. I'm eighteen now. Eighteen and fulfilled a life long dream, driving a train. Now what?" I glanced over at Josh only to see him curling up in the chair to get some sleep.

Sighing I sat back and ignored the silence. No birthday, no celebration, nobody to celebrate it with. Tears pricked at the sides of my eyes. Such a small thing but it hurts knowing that those you love might be gone. That they missed a whole year of your developing years. It had been hard at first, leaving home like that. After getting to San Francisco it had been easier as people and life kept my mind off it. Then when exploring for the colony, I had heard that a group of survivors had built a place in Pittsburgh and I had to go home.

The tears rolled down my cheek silently as the train cut through the darkness. I glanced back down at my Ipod and rolled up to songs. I put on some swing and just relaxed, I'd rather not cry at 18.

I watched trees and overpasses pass us in the dark as the train moved quickly to its destination. Soft snores, or were they growls, came from where Josh sat. Turning off my Ipod I put it back into my pocket not wanting to waste battery life. I listened to the sound of the rails, the silence of the night, the squish of one or two zombies the train would hit. I chuckled softly at the last. Once again I recited in my head. " So much has changed."

I sighed again and leaned my head against the back of my chair. I starred up at the metal ceiling. This is why I didn't want to drive trains as I got older. Actually I had decided to go into level design. The reason being after a while a person like me gets fidgety and bored. I glanced down at my wrist only to remember I had left my wrist watch at the house in San Francisco. Sighing I pulled out my Ipod and turned it back on. I backed out to the main menu then down to the clock menu. "Five minutes after eleven? We should arrive in Martins Ferry soon." My voice seemed to almost echo in the silence of the cab.

After turning off my Ipod I put it back in my pocket and watched as we neared a familiar landmark. "Josh, wake up, we're almost in Wheeling. I need ya to keep your eyes open." Josh growled a little at me, almost as if he didn't want to wake up. Glancing over I watched as he mainly curled up tighter proving my point about not wanting to wake up.

" Josh, wake up now!" The hunter let loose a screech and unfurled himself. He glared at me. " Watch for settlements, this is no time for sleeping!" Yeah I was angry but, it was mostly from being stuck in the cab. The silence like that just kills me internally.

I pulled the throttle back as we exited Martins Ferry and started to pass Wheeling Island. Up ahead was Interstate 70. Memories flooded back to me. The time my parents had took me to the model railroad store on this side of the river. We never bought anything but I loved it all the same because they had a train layout. As the train passed under the overpass my mind wandered to a few other times we had crossed there when coming back from the St. Clairsville Mall and was heading to the zoo or the time we had went on a long trip and had to stop in St. Clairsville for some items to protect our luggage.

As our train slowly moved past Bridgeport I caught sight of Interstate 470. Now that bridge was something else. The green arch and it's on-ramp held more memories for my life than I wish to reveal. Like the time my mother and father had taken me to St. Clairsville Mall, at midnight, for the release of a mature rated video game. I was only 15 at the time. Then there was the time I went to a Cub Scout meeting with my mother when I was 6. Oh and the times we took my great grandmother to the mall. May what ever god is out there bless her soul. She passed, luckily, a few years before the infection. I don't think I could of stood it if she had got infected or died by their hands.

Sitting forward on my seat I watched as we passed under the bridge and headed toward the KIA dealership on the left side of the track. As we passed it memories of times we had bought a van there. Only to, a year later, sell it back and buy the KIA, which was in San Francisco. I glanced out the right side of the cab. What I seen wasn't comforting in the least. It was a shocking way to return to reality. Traffic jams littered the area with stumbling zombies.

No matter how badly I wished for this to be a dream I couldn't stop seeing my parents frightened looks when I told them what was happening and my plans. I couldn't stop seeing the car wrecks and mangled bodies when trying to escape the zombie hell. I sighed and looked over at Josh. I slowly shook my head.

"I'm sorry Josh. I shouldn't of yelled." He seemed to do his best, yeah right, sound as he could. I continued talking anyway. "It was wrong of me, there are no colonies here, nobody lived. You can go back to sleep if you wish."I looked up from where I had been staring at my hand on the throttle and looked through the windshield. Josh didn't say or do anything. He just sat there in silence.

We watched in silence as our train went right and crossed over into Bellaire. Slowly the track started to rise. After a few seconds the grass turned to bricks. A few more seconds and those bricks turned to a steel bridge with hand rails. The track gently curved to the left heading for the larger bridge over the river.

My frown turned to a smirk as I remembered seeing this bridge for years along with the bridge to the left. The bridge that went to nowhere as we called it.. All the times we had passed these bridges on our way to have a home cooked meal at a family restaurant named "Youngs." A tradition my great grandmother had started. She loved eating there. Their food was always fresh and it was always nice. I could pick out one memory of the place but that wouldn't do it justice. I sighed as I once again realized what was actually going on. They had probably closed because of the zombie infection and were most likely gone for good.

I pulled the throttle back up to three notches as we crossed the bridge. "We won't stop here for the night. We'll stop when we reach Old Martins." Josh replied with a small growl before getting out of his seat and curling up under the desktop to get some sleep. Once again I was alone.

The train rounded the bend on the other side of the bridge and moved down toward a small three track yard. I had never really seen this half of the yard and it was a curious sight. There was a string of freight cars on left, coal cars, tank cars, and even an old boarded up caboose just sat there as if waiting to be taken to some company far away.

As we exited the yard I noticed the highway next to us. I let off an inward laugh as I stared at it. The trips to the zoo for Halloween, the Christmas Light spectacle up at the zoo, even when we took my aunt to the bus station. The most ridiculous things held the strongest memories.

A half hour later we were passing the plants along the river. Zombies were sparse but the times you did see them they were in large groups. I reached for the horn and gave it a few good pulls. One long, one short, and two more long. The horn pattern for a crossing. The echo on the hills was something I missed dearly. With this dead silence though, it only made it creepy. Any survivors alive in this area would most likely think they were going crazy or had gone crazy.

I leaned back in my seat again. My mind started to wander over what needed to be done, and how to get home. From what I could remember of the map there had been a barricade on one side of the town so that left going the normal way out. That left me down too two different ways. Some back roads in the middle old Martins, or try and get this train to the next town and take the back road there. If we wanted to really risk it, we could try going two towns up and taking the main road there, who knows there might even be a survivor colony there. I sighed mentally berating myself. There was no way anybody could have lived through this. I was almost home but I had no plans on how to get there.

It was another half hour before we rounded the bend and headed into a town. A town that used to be our destination but was now just, on the way. According to my Ipod it was 12:05 PM. I noticed that some of the street lights were still working, tho that wasn't to be unexpected with the town being built next to a dam which provided hydro electricity.

The town was sadly overflowing with memories. They never seemed to stop. Birthdays in a caboose,shopping in a boring clothing store, numerous hours spent in the electronics section of a big named store, not to mention all the fast food we ate in this town. A grin was plastered on my face as the train started to pass a shopping center directly across from the dam. The time when my dad worked at the gas station and how he picked on the girls working there,the many movies we had seen at the theater, the time I had bust open my knee and was rushed to the emergency room.

As the train neared the trailer park I couldn't resist. I pulled the horn, giving off a nice long loud blast of sound to the silent town. I frowned watching only zombies come running,they almost seemed to be pouring toward our train. I moved the throttle to the second peg giving us a bit more speed. A bit of my weird family had lived in that trailer park before the infection. I had doubted they were still there, still alive, but I had hoped some.

I swore I could see memories almost perfectly again as I watched myself play at a park we had passed or sitting bored in a car at a lumber yard. I watched as we neared the yard I seen the location of the bricks along the tracks. I had once theorized that a train station used to sit there. My parents had smiled and encouraged me. Zombies staggered around on the bricks almost as if they were waiting for our train.

I swallowed a lump that had been forming in my throat. I had never realized how hard it was going to be coming home. How the memories would assault me from left and right and how emotional I would feel seeing it in ruins and filled with zombies.

"Josh, this was my home. This was my life here. You will never realize how much this hurts. How much I want to just run away and cry. Everywhere I look I see memories now. The good, the bad, and even the stupid." Our train crawled across a bridge over a creek. The yard was very close now. " You seen the world change in front of you. I ran away. I couldn't do that. I just couldn't stay there and watch it all go to hell."

I let out a long sigh as the train entered the yard. "I need to see if they lived, but I fear what I will find. I don't know if I can take watching them be stumbling zombies." Our train passed a trail of boxcars on our left. I shook my head slowly. " Sorry, anyway if you are hearing this Josh. We're not stopping here. I decided that we're going to go a few towns up the river before backtracking." I looked over hoping to see Josh awake and listening. All I seen was him curled up. I sighed and sat back in my chair. "Thanks for listening Josh." My voice weakly echoed in the darkness as I stared out the windshield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fell behind temporarily due to starting a new class, hope to start catching back up.
> 
> An interesting thing about this chapter is that it is when I decided that the readers should be able to go to Google maps and be able to follow the story. From here till the end all the locations mentioned tend to be real locations and if you searched them you'll probably find what I was describing.


	5. The Welcoming Committee

Shrieking, all I heard was a metallic screeching. My eyes shot open. We seemed to be passing through some town along the river. The sound... it sounded as if metal was being rubbed the wrong way against another piece of metal. Grinding seemed like the term for it but felt tame compared to it's shrillness. The train was slowing, and slowing fast it was.

A horde came running toward the train. I gulped. This was bad. Suddenly there was an explosion in the middle of said horde. Pieces of zombies went flying. Bones,flesh,entrails, everything. It was as if someone had turned on gore mode in a video game. It was as I watched a leg bounce off the front hood that I realized the significance of the raining body parts. There was another survivor here. Suddenly the train came to a jolting stop as we crashed into what seemed to be a flipped shipping container.

"Give me your name and state your business or I'll blow your train sky high!"It was a chilling statement followed by an evil cackle. I recognized that evil cackle though, that high sounding voice. He was the one kid I had expected to survive from high school. I quickly stood up and hurried out of the cab. If this was really him we had to act fast. He was a loose cannon in school and probably much more so now.

As I opened the door I heard him yell at us again. "Hands up where I can see them. State your business." I knew a simple answer wouldn't suffice and he would want more info. I could see his outline on the rooftops nearby. He seemed to be holing something large. "My name is Wolfy, I am here to go to a nearby town and check on family. May my partner and I precede Dominic?"

The air seemed tense for a few seconds. I felt as if I could literally see time slow down as one second turned into three seconds. Finally he spoke. "Wolfy, you are granted one time admission along with your friend, for old times sake." I smiled a little at that, I knew it wasn't over but this was something. " Thank you Dominic, thank you." I heard grumbling coming from where he was but I ignored it in favor of getting packed.

I quickly stepped back inside. As I grabbed my M16 I glanced over at Josh. I started explain as I slung the gun over my shoulde. "Dominic is unstable, always has been. Back in school we compared him to Hitler all the time as a joke. With this zombie apocalypse I think he's finally broke. He's not even as stable as he was in school from the looks of things. Try and act human around him, I have no idea how he will react to us." With that I turned and walked out of the cab and down the walkway.

As I jumped down onto the gravel, I turned around and watched as Josh stepped out of the cab, only to slide under the railing and go crashing down onto the gravel. Almost as if he had practiced parkour his whole life. I sighed and shook my head heading back toward the railroad crossing our train had passed. If anything Josh could pass as my parkour training buddy from San Francisco if Dominic asked.. Well as long as he didn't try to speak.

As we walked toward Main Street, where Dominic was waiting, I glanced over and watch Josh. He was trying his best not to bend over like a hunter but still had a slight hunch to how he moved. My mind wandered away from our situation and slowly moved to hunters. Parkour was an art form before the infection. It was a way to get from one place to another in an urban setting. It was actually created in France I think.

In general Parkour was entertaining as it opened new ways to get from A to B. I had actually learned a bit of Parkour from a buddy back in San Francisco, Jackson. Jackson actually used to have a Parkour training website. It was also curious to me as Jackson was also a reformed hunter. He had become infected shortly after one of his training sessions went wrong with a new student who was recently infected. He had kept almost all of his sanity after the changes, so he had never hunted humans for food for the most part. There was that one time though and I'm perfectly fine with it. The man was a murder and deserved to die.

A loud explosion brought me back. Dust and debris littered where it had gone off. As it cleared it was obvious there was large hole in Main Street where a grenade had gone off. No, not a pipe bomb, a beeping grenade. There was even concrete missing from where it exploded. The bodies around it seemed scorched a bit, but mostly they were blown into unrecognizable pieces. A voice shouted above us. "Go into door on your right. It'll take you right up to the roof." We turned obediently and started climbing the steps. The door had most likely disappeared months ago. Clawing zombies had most likely torn it to pieces. Only to be repaid the at the top of the stairs with being torn apart themselves by guns and grenades.

As Josh and I reached the top of the stairwell we passed large holes in the walls suggesting I was right about the grenades going off here. An M40 sniper rifle soon came into view. Pointing directly at my head. I seen the smirk on Dominic's lips. "You let that beard of yours grow wild. Though it's still scruffy. Almost looks like you never left." I had no idea what he was talking about as I had shaved back in Pittsburgh. It seemed he was more delusional than I was at times. Dominic moved back and stepped out onto what was once, maybe, a roof. Now it was more of a small ammo depot. Guns all over, AK's, M16's, M40's,Desert Eagles, RPG, Grenade Launcher, hell I think I even saw a missile up there. "Welcome to my home Wolfy."

I quickly followed behind Dominic as he started walking. I nodded for Josh take up the rear. "So what you doin' back here Steven? Thought you got out of here when you could. Why'd you come back?" I swallowed any fear I had. This was Dominic, a friend. I had no reason to fear him. Then again he had most likely gone crazy after being alone for so long with only zombies and guns.

I think I heard my voice crack as I replied to him. "We're here to check on my parents, like I said on the train." Dominic stepped off the wooden plank we had just crossed and started heading toward a crashed tractor trailer, that lead across the street to an old hardware store. "Well Steve, I can tell you for old times sake that they're not there." I let out a shuddering sigh. Good or bad news? I still wasn't sure, but Dominic wasn't done talking either. "Actually I hear a lot of your town was evacuated by the military. Sad news is most of the helicopters carrying evacuees crashed due to the pilots ending up infected."

Dominic chuckled darkly. "Seems like most helicopter pilots weren't immune. If stories were to be believed." We stepped up onto the hardware store's roof. I noticed various supplies seemed to littered this roof too. Pills, hammers, wrenches, boards, health packs, welding supplies.

"More bad news, but it sounds like almost all West Virginia's refuges were killed by the military or went missing. You're parents living is a very low chance. Rumor has it those that went missing were being experimented on." We climbed down a laddar onto a wooden shed. There was a wooden walkway that went from the shed to a nearby house's roof. I chuckled internally at seeing all of this. Insanity must have been the key to his survival. Insanity and boredom.

We stepped onto the roof and walked up the sloped side only to walk down the other side. The house next door had a hole in the roof along with a large metal door inside. As we stepped onto another walkway I finally figured out why I was uneasy. The ground around the wooden walkway was littered with decomposing bodies. I glanced up quickly and kept walking. Those bodies didn't seem exactly immune but not exactly infected either. Josh stayed silent as we walked, still trying his best to seem normal. Though his hood, tape, and hidden eyes still screamed hunter, he wasn't acting like one.

Dominic opened the door and waved us in. As Josh and I stepped into the attic I knew Dominic still had his gun pointed at us as he closed the door. "Just because I knew you, doesn't mean I'll trust you. You could be working for the military for all I know."

Dominic left us there, alone, for a few seconds before returning with car keys. "Don't get any ideas. I'm gonna drive you and your..." Dominic's nose bunched up in disgust. "Friend, to town. There you can do what ever you want. Just remember this, if you ever come into my town again it won't be as pleasant unless you have good reason to be here." With that Dominic turned around and walked down the stairs. Josh and I followed behind silently. Any word from us could be our last.

As we reached the garage I seen something I hadn't been expecting. A Hummer 3 outfitted with a plow and machine gun on the roof. I had a feeling that wasn't all that was tricked out about this vehicle either. " Get in the back." Dominic's voice echoed in the room. He slammed his door shut, ignoring our silent conversation Josh and I had. I pushed Josh forward toward the vehicle. He seemed to get the idea and got in first. I quickly climbed in after him.

The garage door creaked opened up in front of the Hummer. "Buckle up, while this might be zombie hell, I'd rather not have you go flying through my windshield." Dominic's voice was tight and constrained very unlike the boy I knew in school. Very soon I had myself and Josh buckled in. The tires squealed as Dominic peeled out of his garage.

I was glad we had our seat belts on as soon as the car fishtailed out of there and headed toward the hills. "Yeehaw!" Dominic's cry of excitement from the front did not stop me from nearly pissing myself as we nearly missed a large, rusting, tractor trailer. The hummer rounded a bend sharply and started heading up the winding road alongside the hill. Common infected, a jockey, and a spitter, bashed off the front of the hummer as we swerved up the hill.

I felt the familiar feeling as if I was on a roller coaster in an amusement park. After topping the hill the ride down would be even curvier if the roads were in good condition. Luckily for us abandonded cars weren't on the itinerary list for this road as we topped the hill. The driving seemed to become more erratic and scary as Josh and I were literally slammed into each other time after time. The hummer was nearly tipped over from time to time after the turns as we flew along the road.

Wandering zombies turned into piles of gore as they went flying. The hummer ripped its way through the infected. If my stomach was any sign I was definitely feeling it lift and fall as we went over some humps. Suddenly I seen it, relief flooded my body as it came into view. The main straight stretch was only a few minutes away. After that it would only be 15 minutes till we got to town.

Dominic drifted onto the straight stretch. My stomach seemed to protest against it. We flew by memorable locations, the fishing shop, the ranch, those fancy houses on the right side of the road. Before we knew it we were barely ten minutes from town. My stomach was showing me how upset it was by doing flips even as Dominic slowed down. We neared an intersection leading toward town.

Fear crept into me, or was that rising vomit, at the sight ahead. A blockade sat directly on the side leading toward my hometown along with a CEDA trailer blocking the road beyond that. The car stopped next to it. "Get out. You're walking the rest of the way. Don't come back Wolfy. I'll shoot you next time you show up in my town." Dominic glared at me through the rear view mirror. Josh and I quickly exited the vehicle with our guns and supplies.

As soon as we were out Dominic spun the wheels out and went down the road leading to the right. Josh and I were once again, fighting our way to our destination. I don't know why Dominic wanted us gone, nor why we were still going to go to my hometown, but we had made it this far. I sighed and started walking toward the blockade. Who knows, maybe we could take shelter there or find something out about what happened there.

I looked up at the blockade from where I stood. The CEDA trailer was parked exactly blocking off the road if you got past the blockade. I glanced over at Josh. Well this wasn't going to be easy.

Sighing I slung my gun back over my shoulder and backed up. I took a deep breath and took off at a sprint. Leaping at the fence I caught onto the wires. Slowly the wires cut into the skin on my fingers as I climbed up and over the barricade. I landed rather clumsily on the other side. Josh on the other hand just jumped onto the top of the CEDA trailer and waited for my clumsy ass.

Grunting, I pushed myself up off the ground. Pebbles stuck in my hands. "Ugh, you know Josh, I'm starting to hate CEDA more and more. Their road blocks and incessant want to be where we want to be blocking every road we want to travel." I heard a growl that must have been agreeing with me from the top of the trailer.

Stepping over to the trailer I noticed that the stairs leading up to the door seemed quite unused. I opened the door and stepped in. What I saw shocked me. Papers were everywhere. Maps, clipboards, even some information about the special infected. What ever had happened here had made CEDA leave in a hurry. Maybe that's why Dominic wanted to be rid of me.

I started riffling through the papers. I started seeing names I recognized, maps of places I remembered, orders for evacuations at the high school and the old high school in town. But the old high school was museum, why would they want to evacuate there? I kept searching through the papers. I convinced myself mentally it was research, but deep down I knew I was looking for someone to blame.

Suddenly a name sprung out at me. It was my aunt. According to the document she had refused to leave her home, shotgun in hand. I smirked at that. Sounded like my aunt to be a stubborn old fool in her late 60's. If anything I knew she had gone out fighting.

I sighed and put the paper to the side. I didn't wish to tarnish the memory with visiting her place. On the other hand Melinda might want to see that, this was her grandmother after all. I quickly went back to searching through the papers. There had to be something useful.

Many more reports and names I recognized. My neighbor was seen hitting zombies with a frying pan. The report said she was doing quite well holding off the hordes. A few more pages in and it said that she had killed a hunter, who just happened to be one of her ex boyfriends, with a baseball bat. The last page in her file said she had been bitten.

Finally it hit me what I was reading. CEDA, the military, they had been evaluating those living in my hometown. They had watched them till they were overrun. The rescue was a false alarm. Those who didn't leave were made into test subjects. They knew those who didn't leave would be the perfect example of how the survivors would try to survive. How to make the infected more deadly.

I gasped,my revelations were not to be taken lightly. If what Dominic had said was true. The military, they were experimenting on survivors to make the infected stronger. To make them better. A growl from the doorway warned me of Josh's presence. I sighed and stepped back away from the table. My mind was reeling. The good guys turned out to be the bad guys all along.

I felt my voice crack. "Josh, they were... They were experimenting on people. They were trying to make the infection worse. Maybe that's why it's quieting down. The military is on to something and they're going to start another infection. A whole new wave of immune survivors becoming infected. The why, is my only concern. Why infect over eight million humans in the first place?" I felt like I was back in school working on a game of "Clue." Slowly I slipped down to the floor and bunched up. My head laid on my arms and I thought it over. What exactly could the military get out of such a thing?

Another five minutes of sitting around thinking I sighed and stood up. What ever they were doing, and why ever they were doing this, was of no good to me right now. I went back to searching. Maybe there was something about my parents in all these papers.

After digging for an hour I found it. Tears stung my eyes as I read. I choked on the sobs wishing to come forth. I held in my hands the list of evacuated survivors. My parents were on the list. Their helicopter... It had crashed into the museum. The pilot had tried to attack them shortly after take off. A hand touched my shoulder. I turned into the person. I grabbed onto his hoodie and cried. I felt his other arm wrap around me, I knew I should be alarmed but all I felt was a comforting hug.

I cried hard into his hoodie. My parents had always been there. Though I hadn't told them my secrets like being gay or a few other minor things. They were always there for me. I loved them dearly. Finding out they had died, that hurt. Worse, than I think even seeing them infected would have.

After a half an hour Josh and I found ourselves on the floor, me in his arms and sniffling. I had just met Josh almost three days ago, and we had seemed to have gone through so much in such a short amount of time. In zombie hell, ten seconds with a person and you might remember them for a lifetime. I stood up suddenly. My body seemed to go into auto pilot.

I walked out the door and turned to the ladder built into the side of the trailer. I grabbed onto the first wrung and started to climbed up the ladder. I pushed myself on top of the trailer and quickly crawled over to climbed down the other side. I checked my M-16's clip, half full. Just enough to make it to town. I don't know what I was thinking as my feet touched the ground. All I could think of was running. I took off a sprint down the road.

Every random zombie I crossed, I shot. I heard Josh following me, silently. I don't know why but he had decided to run instead of leaping in front of me or watching from a distance. I felt my body tense as I ran past the gas station, over the bridge, down the straight stretch, even as I neared the high school I had gone to, I felt tense.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I ran. I shot two random zombies on the bridge leading to the high school. My gun went click as I kept running I reached into my pocket and pulled out my last clip. I hadn't brought as much extra ammo thinking we would stop at a survivor colony and be able to restock.

Ejecting the old clip, I locked the new one in place. I cocked the gun. I started firing again as I ran across another bridge. I was almost home. Trees didn't just loom over the road anymore. Limbs and leaves littered it as I ran. I always loved this part when going home. To bad my enjoyment of this part was tarnished by the tears threatening to spill forth.

I passed the outside buildings, crossed the bridge, and ran up the hill and into town. I knew where I was going. I was going home. My body was taking me home. The gun went click as I turned down the second street into town. Without thinking I flipped the gun and grabbed the barrel. The scent of scorching skin rose into the air. I bashed roaming zombies heads in with the base of my gun. I screamed out in rage as one zombie's head went flying off.

One block, left at the intersection ,right immediately at the adjacent intersection. I seen the large white house as I turned onto my street. In front of the house I seen the old white Suzuki. I felt the need to cry become stronger, but I kept running.

I was almost home. Then I could lock the doors, go sleep in my room, and just cry. I slowed down as I reached my neighbors driveway. I slowly walked staring at the front of the house. A year without mowing hadn't been that bad. It was only maybe a foot up. The shrubs themselves hadn't over grown either having just been a year. Suddenly I heard a voice behind me. " Hello neighbor, what you doin' back?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. That voice, I hadn't heard it in a year but I knew it so well. I also knew that voice wasn't right. There was something wrong. I slowly turned around. The first thing I seen was my driveway and porch, my neighbors driveway and garage, the dual trees in my neighbors yard. Then I seen it. Red eyes, red hair, and long fingernails. A witch, better yet, my neighbor, Brittany.

She smirked as she watched me flinch. "Didn't expect to see me still alive?" I could tell what was wrong now. Her voice was scratchy, as if she had once cried for a long time. I tried to open my mouth and the only thing that came out was something sounding like a choke and a gasp. Brittany laughed. I noticed behind her that Josh was just now turning onto my street. Had I really run that fast? I had outpaced a hunter. I looked back at Brittany as she stood on sidewalk between her driveway and mine.

"How's it feel to be the last human that isn't immune, that isn't infected? How does it feel Steven? I remember being normal once. I remember having been at the bus stop with you. I remember watching you leave us all. I remember hitting these damn creature with everything I could, be it a frying pan to a baseball bat. Now look at me. I'm one of them." She was now walking toward me. Anger flaring in her eyes. Josh had slowed down watching the situation.

"Why'd you come back Steven? Why come home Wolfy, why? Mommy and Daddy are dead, so why, oh why, come back to this hell hole. You left them for dead if I remember right. Then the military... They offered to take us away. Only to send some of us to another hell. You're parents were lucky to die in that crash. My parents on the other hand. I watched them be torn shred by shred in front of me as my little sister and brother were devoured. Then I was infected. Now I have to live this hell." The anger and pain laced her voice. She stopped in front of me.

"I've killed people, Eaten people even. I'm a monster. How's it feel to be uninfected, I wish to know. Oh how I long to be like you." She narrowed her eyes at me. "How did you become so lucky to not get it? How come you were able to escape?" I gaped like a fish. Suddenly she lashed out. I felt her claws rip up my left and right arms. Ripping the tape and material off.

"You know before I started to remember it was nice being a witch. Just sit there and just, fucking, cry!" To accent her words she scratched my arms again. Josh growled crouched down getting ready to pounce her. Then it happened.

"How's it feel to watch the world change in front of you? To go crazy from it all and grasp onto that one last hope at normality? How's it feel to have it ripped from you? How's it feel..." She slowly brought her bloodstained claws to her hands and licked them. "To know you're about to die. About to become like us? Please don't keep us in suspense."

I know fear was plain as day on my face. I felt the pain of her claws across my stomach, as if she was ripping it out in an instant. Time seemed to slow down. The first infected hit, the second hit, a bit of saliva falling from her mouth and into the wounds. If I wasn't infected now, I was dead. Then she was gone.

I felt deaf as I couldn't hear anything. The world seemed to moving in slow motion. It seemed like hours later when Josh and Brittany reappeared in my view. Brittany seemed to have a few scratches on her but she seemed fine. Their mouths opened but no sound came out. Pain, all I knew was pain, I let loose a scream, though nothing came out.

Was this what it was like to die? I felt like I was on fire. As if my soul was being forced out of my body. I felt myself being pulled two ways. I screamed again, still nothing. Brittany seemed sad as she watched me. Josh seemed angry but depressed at the same time. All of a sudden it felt like a brick hit me on the head. I blacked out.

All I could see was darkness. I screamed again, louder. Still nothing seemed to come out of my mouth. The darkness seemed to be trying to swallow me. Suddenly I seen an image of me being dragged up into the house. My blood smearing on the concrete.

Nothingness surrounded me again in an instant. After a while a gray mist slowly formed in the dark void. The mist seemed to materialize into something the longer it was there. Slowly a hunter took form. A nude hunter. He had brown hair, standing up he was around 6' 3", and seemed quite fit.

I walked over to him. He looked me in the eye and I stared right back into his glowing blue eyes. I raised my right hand he rose his left hand. As I placed my right hand in the air, so did he. His claws were longer than my hands, but they almost fit. I once again looked him in the eye. This wasn't someone else. This was me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far, one of my favorite chapters for so many reasons. It set up so many plot points and introduced a character that was heavily based on someone I went to school with growing up. As well as contained some of my favorite, emotional, punch lines.


	6. Insanity, Sanity, What?

I felt fur. What a thing to wake up to. Instead of opening my eyes up to see what was under my hand I kept them closed. Just ten more minutes of sleep. Just ten more and I'd wake up. After that insane dream maybe the next dream could make up for it.

Voices were nearing me as I laid there. "Really? He's decided to come back here to see his parents? Wow, must have been tough." The feminine voice sounded familiar but I couldn't mentally place it. Then there was a weird, gruffer, voice. "He's really something. Been with him since my home town. Met his cousin, seen Pittsburgh,rode a train, met an insane old friend of his, and now I have to watch him become like us. Why did you attack him, again?" I knew he wasn't speaking English but I could understand him oddly enough.

I had a feeling I knew who he was, but I didn't want to think about it. The mere thought made my brain hurt. If I could understand him it would mean something was very wrong with me, or I was dead and was in fact now a ghost. Great, join those visions I kept seeing as a new vision.

After a few seconds the female replied with a sigh. "I don't know what came over me. Jealousy, rage, maybe even our childhood rivalry. I don't know. I just went into this mode where all I saw was red when I saw him. I wonder if he'll forgive me for doing it."

A gruff chuckle came from beside me now. "I think he'll forgive you Mrs. Spencer, but you'll have to make it up to him. Unlike us he hasn't had months and months of practice at being what we are." I heard the female sigh in the background.

A hand touched my thigh. It was warm, and sorta rough while being soft at the same time. I gasped out loud. The hand stopped. You know, I wish I could of slapped myself at the time. So instead I mentally slapped myself. "Ow!" Yes, I just yelled out loud for slapping myself mentally, and I just felt pain for slapping myself mentally. How bout that for weird?

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. The world seemed to swim as it came into view. " 'Ave anything else to 'ay?" I groaned again as my brain seemed to throb in time with the spinning view.

"Get this damn disco club out of my head!" Slowly the world seemed to refocus itself. The throbbing was still going strong though. It looked like it was evening if outside the porch windows were anything to go by. The white room with wood floors came into view. Windows surrounded the whole porch, even a large panoramic window into the living room to my right.

"I never thought coming home would involve me getting hurt." I felt like a ton of lead bricks were laying on my chest as I slowly sat up. "Ugh, this is the part where I joke about not wanting to go on the ride again, right? Sadly I can't feel even near well enough to do a joke that bad. Anyway, who built a lead house on my chest and decided to punch me four of five times?" I heard a small laugh come from beside me.

Looking around the room I spotted Brittany, Josh, and Wilbur. Wait Wilbur? I glanced back at the cat sleeping next to me. I slowly smiled at him. "I take back everything I just said. Coming home is so refreshing." Wilbur's pur seemed to vibrate my leg a little as he slept beside me. But he shouldn't have been alive. Nobody had been here to feed him, Patches, or even Papi.

I spun around and looked at Brittany. A smile was plastered on her face. "Yeah I kept your damn cats and dog alive." She laughed a little. "Plus their great company. Some of the other neighborhood animals decided to come round after I started helping your three. Guess I've become the resident cat lady." I shook my head at the thought. Brittany, an old cat woman? Never.

Slowly I pushed myself up. I was a bit wobbly, but I was doing alright. "You know Steven, I'd recommend a week of not moving, but I know you wouldn't listen." It was so odd seeing Brittany being so mature and offhanded about some things. Something was off about her. I turned back round and looked at her closely. She was wearing blue jeans, her New York hoodie, and she had her hair in a pony tail.

I tried to place what was so different about her. Slowly I stepped forward and took a better look at her. Then it hit me. Claws,red eyes, super skinny, witch, witch, she was a witch! I took a step or two back before running into something. I turned around fast to see what it was. Josh was standing there. He looked directly into my eyes. I gasped as his red eyes burned into my soul. "Think Steven, think. You need to remember what happened."

The memory hit me like a ton of bricks. Papers, running, shooting, stopping, Brittany, ripping, shredding, tearing, saliva, infection, zombies, transference, contagious, infected, infected,infected! It couldn't be true. I couldn't be infected. A years worth of protection and good luck, a years worth of training,a whole year of running, and I caught it.

I slowly looked down at my heads. Tears stung my eyes. Claws, I now had claws. "No..." I fell down onto my knees. It felt like someone had suddenly stole what little bit of sanity I had left. I felt like I was going to be violently sick. Air, I need air, can't get enough air! Hyperventilating, I was hyperventilating, this can't be real. This has to be a dream. I closed my eyes. One, two, three, wake up, wake up, wake up! I opened my eyes. They were still there, I was still a monster, nothing had changed.

I spun around. Blood, there was a trail of it leading from the door to where I had woken up. I looked at my waist. I had bloody gauze wrapped around me. Glancing outside I seen the trail lead all the way to the carport. Where it had happened. Where my old life, human life, had ended.

Josh and Brittany just stood there watching. Who knows what they thought of me now. Maybe they resented me. Maybe they wanted me dead. Maybe they wanted to eat my flesh and internal organs. I had no idea. Air, breathe, remember to breathe Steven. Do not hyperventilate again.

Oh no, do not, do not talk to yourself in your mind, that's bad. Oh no am I going crazy? No, I'm perfectly fine. Perfectly fine. God, no I'm not! I'm a train wreck. I'm all over the place.

A warm palm connected with the side of my face. Slowly I turned to look into Josh's eye. "Please stop being such a fucking drama queen and pull your fucking act together." I blinked, not once but twice. Then comprehension dawned on me. I really was insane.

Slowly I stood up and started backing away from them. Josh glanced over at me. I stopped where I was. Escape, all I had to do was escape. Run, get out, leave, survive. He took a step toward me. I took a step back, I felt the wood banister under the windows touch my back. I was trapped.

My world swam, suddenly I was back on my knees. Vomiting sounded like a nice thing all of a sudden. My vision went black. I was once again surrounded by blackness. Silence reined supreme here. Hours seemed to fly by in the darkness.

As I came too again I noticed it was much darker than when I woke up the first time. I rolled my head to the right seeing Wilbur's tail disappear around the edge of the doorway. I slowly glanced up and out the windows on that end of the porch, stars glittered in the night sky.

Sighing I slowly pushed myself up. I had finally convinced myself I wasn't insane and to stop being so irrational. Hours of nothing gave me plenty of time to think about it. I glanced around the room again. I noticed that the blood that had been there last time had been cleaned up leaving the floor a dark wood brown.

My senses were assaulted by the smell of sweat and blood as someone entered the room. I glanced over at the doorway. I smirked to see Josh standing there. "Ya know, I always thought I'd wake up crazy. Didn't think it'd be after I died." Josh walked in crouched on all fours. Only his greyish lips were showing. His eyes were hidden by the top of his hoodie. As he neared my form he spoke up. "It's nice to see you back to your old self. I'm guessing this means the infection has set in."

Sighing I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Now that Josh was near me I could smell him perfectly. Blood,dirt,sweat,infection, and a bit of musk. "I guess this means my social life is gone." Josh sat back on his hunches and chuckled at me. "Nah, just means the company is gonna be different. Ready to go see Brittany? I'm pretty sure she is ready to talk to you again" I shook my head slowly and smiled. That girl has always been trouble round me. Who knew it'd be her that killed me. I chuckled internally at that. I'd once joked that she'd "be the death me." Who knew I'd end up being serious?

Slowly I rolled onto my side and pushed myself into a crawling position. I stretched lazily like a cat. Josh chuckled at that. I rolled my eyes and without thinking about it settled into the hunched over form like him. Josh turned around without a word and headed for the hall.

I don't think hall is an adequate name. As I stepped up into the room I realized how much of a comer stone it was. There was a closet offset to the left opposite of the front door. The Sears catalogs used to be in there. In front of me was actually a rack filled with DVDs. Actually the rack held VHS tapes till we had more DVD's than VHS tapes and needed the space.

To my right was a window with a table sitting in front of it with a printer on top. To the right of that and right next to the door way I just came through was a desk. A computer and monitor were set up. My parents had used it as their personal computer. This whole set up had been one of the few changes that came around after I got my own computer.

I glanced over to my left after taking in the corner of the room. I seen a square doorway for two, even three, people to get through. Right beside that on my side of the doorway was a small cabinet. Inside I seen a marble Amtrak locomotive along with my families other prized possessions. I smiled realizing that unlike so many other homes in America ,mine hadn't been ransacked and destroyed.

Josh stepped through the doorway and entered the living room. Memories flooded back to me as I walked into the room. As I entered there was a rocking chair on my right, a table end with artistic deer lamps on my left , and between the table end next to me and a matching one on the other side of the room was a dark brown couch. My father and our dog had fallen on asleep on it many times. The cats also loved the lounge around on the top of the couch. I had sadly avoided the couch ever since we got the dog. Even after getting a new one I never sat on the couch. I had a bad experience after we got the dog and it haunted me ever time I sat on the couch.

I smiled as I looked right toward the door, against the wall near the doorway I had entered. The door was to a staircase leading to the second floor. To the left of that was a fireplace with a beautiful wood mantle. Fixated in the middle of the mantle was a handcrafted wood clock. Behind that was a medium sized mirror. My red eyes gazed back at myself from the mirror. Trust me that was disorienting. Sure I'm infected now, but that was not me I had seen in the mirror. Turning around I stalked toward the television and turned right, another square doorway was in my path.

Across the dining room from me stood Brittany, sipping what seemed to be a cup of coffee. The dining room had laminated wood floor with a wood table and chairs seated in the middle on a small beige rug. Exactly on the right was another fireplace, most likely connected to the one in the living room. Next to it was a small bookshelf. Scrapbooks littered it. I turned left and walked around the table. Glancing to my left as I walked I noticed the curtains were still in place in front of the sliding glass door that took up mainly the whole wall.

Instead of a door way, or even an archway,the kitchen was connected to the far side of the dining room. There was a small indentation where the dining room ended and the kitchen began. The cabinets and counter top started beside the sliding glass door and went all the way down the wall, past the sink to make a sharp right, maybe three feet and then ended with a door to the small concrete back porch. Next to that was a tall cabinet, it housed the pans mostly. From there the counter started again for maybe two feet and then there was the over. After that there was another piece of counter then the refrigerator. The object of mine, and my families boredom. Josh sat near Brittany who was leaning against the counter top on the far side. Next to her was the door to the back porch.

"I never realized how much you guys remodeled since I was young. Almost seemed like a new house when I came in to feed your cats." I smiled at Brittany. She was always kind to animals and sometimes people. It was rare that she was always nice but that was, because she had been hurt a lot in her past. This was probably the reason she had turned into a witch.

I stood up into a crouch and leaned against the counter closest to the dining room. I relaxed as my body realized there was no threat. Ever since I had woke up my body had almost been running on automatic. It was as if the rails had been taken away and I was expected to fly. I was stumbling to grasp onto the edges of hunter life. I could clearly feel a presence at the edge of my mind, screaming for living flesh.

Brittany's voice broke me from my thoughts. "So, here's what happened." Mentally I smirked, same Brittany, different species. " After you left, life went on as normal. Well other than some quarantine blocked off Old Martins and a fence had been built around the town where that nut job Dominic lives. Both odd events to most of us who had no idea what was going on. As soon as you were gone our internet and news was cut. We could call each other but a phone call to say The Wells Inn, that got you a disconnected tone." Brittany stopped talking and took a sip of her coffee. I had heard rumors that some reformed infected had certain items or foods that helped keep them human. I'm stabbing in the dark but I think Brittany's was coffee.

After a few moments of silence Josh urged her on. She nodded slowly, seeming to have been lost in thought. " Well it was two days after that that they blocked us in. That company, CEDA? I think that's their name. Anyway the told us some disease was going on and they wanted to treat us before it got here. Obviously there was a whole group that flocked to it. Mostly the druggies who thought they might be able to use this medicine to get a new high. To bad what ever it was came in a needle and was liquid. After the second day they closed the doors to new people claiming they had to wait on a new shipment of the stuff. That's when it finally hit. Yeah, some cure, instead of preventing the infection, it started it. The first known victim had actually crashed his car into the gas station. The second had been a lady in the library. She started heaving madly and was knocked out afterward. When she awoke with people around her she lunged at someone and starting clawing at them and tried to kill them. Everyone was so shocked. It was only after she had drawn blood and was trying to rip out the guys throat that they hit her in the head with a fire extinguisher."

Brittany sighed deeply and did her best to knead her forehead with her claws. "After that it rampaged out of control. Soon everyone who had a gun and could shoot was doing so. The military did nothing. The fucking, military did nothing, but sit back and watch." Brittany's eyes started glowing a dark red. " They sit on their lazy asses and they all died. Then they made a false fucking way out of here and killed those people too. What the fuck were we thinking trusting the military?" I got up off the counter and walked over to her. I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Don't worry, we'll get those bastards. Is there anything else we need to know or shall we just end it there?" Brittany shook her head slowly after seeming to think on it for a bit. "Nope, that's the general rundown of what happened."

I sighed deeply and let her go. I turned around and started walking toward the dining room. I smirked as I fell into the familiar routine if pacing between the two rooms. My mind deep in thought about what happened, and our future now. The military was up to something. Attacking or forming a rebellion was bad news. So many survivor outposts had had help from the military some times, Even that cruise ship I had heard rumors about last spring had turned into a survivor outpost. Then there was the fact the military had big guns and didn't play fair. No, no, no, any attack on the military now would be instant death. We had to gather more Intel and an army, and maybe even guns before we attacked.

I stopped next to the dinning room table. " Any attack on the military would end in disaster now. We'll have to see about doing some recon at some old thrown together bases." Turning around I noticed Josh and Brittany were a little surprised. Josh was the first to speak. " You seriously want to take on the military? I knew you were suicidal the first night we slept in the same room together but seriously, your this crazy?" Brittany raised her eyebrows a little at that. I knew she had more to say on Josh's comment, but didn't say it. Deciding it was time for bed, and to get away from this conversation, I turned right and walked into the hall. I didn't even say goodbye, I just left.

After getting lost for a few seconds I entered my room. The light blue walls, the shaggy red carpet, and the always semi inviting bed. While it was quite dusty in my room it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My desktop, computer, bookcase, heck even the posters and curtains had at least a few centimeters of dust. I yawned, clearly tired and not really caring about the house guests, I closed the door behind me and took off my shirt revealing my changed body. The once chubby guy was now replaced by a four pack man. Yawning again I just stepped around the room. The l shape helping me have time to also take off my belt before I slipped underneath the covers, and flipped the pillow. I was out like a light and fast asleep under the fuzzy blankets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> March 2, 2014
> 
> I graduated college, went looking for a job, temporarily ended up with a whole month without internet, and at the end of all that I started talking to a few friends who really think I should finish this. So know what, I'm going to attempt to finish what I started.


	7. Waking Up Again, and Again

Warm, fuzzy,comforting,pain... My eyes shot open. The white ceiling above me not helping relieve my pain as I try to slash at the air. It felt like pins and needles were being jabbed right along every blood vessel in my body.

A hunter's screech interrupts my pain. Well interrupted till I realized it was I who let loose such a screech. My eyes bugged as I lay there withering on a nice bed. A bed that I had no recollection of getting on, a bed that I had no memory of being near for almost a year.

My body convulsed strongly and I felt as if I might start foaming at the mouth. The door slammed open hitting the white ball stopper hard. I felt hands, or were they claws? Lift me off my bed and pull me out of the room and into the bathroom. As the person led me toward the toilet I stumbled falling out of their grip face first into a crouch. My head toilet seat level which was lucky for I then preceded to vomit into the toilet.

A vile red and black mixture exited my throat into the toilet below me. I gasped for air after the first portion left my mouth. I gagged as my throat burned, the feeling of something disgustingly viscous going up my throat and out my mouth. The liquid seemed more black with red chunks mixed in.

I didn't even mentally question what that was or what I was throwing up. All I knew was I wanted it out of my body and I wanted to stop throwing up. A hand... or was it a paw? What ever it was rested firmly on my back. A gentle hum of a almost calming capacity started from behind me.

I felt another round of vomit with chunks start up. What ever it was started making my throat feel dry and almost as if I was trying to throw up something that wasn't there. I believe they called it dry heaving once.

You know that impending doom feeling? Yeah, I sure did when I felt my body convulse. Losing all grip on reality and falling onto my side. My eyes had started to become focused and then unfocused on the white tiles around the bathtub. Something dark was standing over me was either yelling or growling at someone out in the hall. The thing in the hall disappeared quickly and the dark thing over me reached down and placed... I think it was a claw on my cheek.

Not long after the thing in the hall disappeared it reappeared with something big and dark. The dark thing over me took something white, I think it was toilet paper, and cleaned up the vomit drool. After that the thing in the hall walked in and the dark thing that was over me and it took the dark fuzzy thing and put around me.

As soon as they had it wrapped around me I realized just how cold I had been. The two things backed off. The dark one telling the other to do something I think it was speaking English or was that something else it was speaking? Maybe I could get some sleep now... After all these things around me are quite warm and comfortable. Who ever, what ever they are won't mind if I take a nap.

Boy it's warm. What am I wrapped in? Mmm What ever it is I don't wanna wake up. It is so cozy. Wait I'm in fuzzy blankets? I don't remember falling asleep in fuzzy blankets. My eyes blink open only to shut them quickly. It was so bright. I wish they would turn the darn lights off. I was about to voice my complaint. It was only then I realized how dry my throat was.

I coughed a few times and shook my head trying my hardest to remember what happened. Nothing came to me. Out side the room there was a shuffling sound. I looked up and seen a witch, not just any witch tho, it was my old neighbor. She smiled at me sadly when she noticed I was awake. She stepped over and closed the curtains on the window above me." Forgot how much you hunters hate light." I tilted my head to the side in confusion. Brittany's smile faded as she realized I had no clue what she was talking about. "He said this might happen. I had hoped he was wrong. Give me a second and I'll get him for you." I was about to ask her who but she had already turned and walked away.

It was maybe ten minutes before Brittany reappeared with a guy in a hoodie. He was kinda cute with his dark attitude. I yawned and snuggled a little in the covers still not totally awake now. "You said he was showing signs of memory loss. How much do you think?" I noticed his lips seems to moved less than before but I could still hear the words as if it was natural English. She tilted her head slightly to the side. "He seems to know about the infection from the slight fear in his eyes when he first saw me but I don't think he remembers last week, or maybe longer, at all." The hunter looked at her and nodded slowly. "Don't worry then. He needs his rest. He'll remember the rest tomorrow. The fever is finally going down now that he is in here." The hooded figured turned and walked out the door. "Stay with him Brittany I need to prepare for tomorrow." and with that he was gone.

Brittany stepped up to the door frame and leaned against it, looking at me. Her red glowing eyes seemed to stare into my soul. "I know you forgave me once... but I know it was the infection setting in. You were about as rational as a soldier fresh from a war zone when a car backfires." I felt pressure once again pushing my eyelids down. "I just want you to know Steven, I didn't mean for it to happen this way." I nodded into the blankets and tried to mumble something to her. To bad the blankets were covering my mouth and I was asleep again.

A light on the eye, so not a good way to wake up, again. Growling I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. A feminine giggle came from not far from me. I groaned and tried to bury myself deeper. A girl, here? Where ever here was, it was no place for a girl that giggles like that. I pulled the covers down from my mouth. " Who ever you are, please go away, I'm going to sleep another few minutes, the world has already fucking ended." Pulling the covers over my face I snuggled back into the blankets. A vague clucking of a tongue could be heard through the covers. " Now Wolfy, how would it look if you refused to help your neighbor?" I growled into the covered and pulled them down again. " Like any other day in my miserable childhood. Go away Brittany." Hadn't she ruined enough of my life when I was young?

A second voice joined hers but it was gruffer and sounded kinda like growls but almost like English.

" Rise and shine, training starts in an hour." The male voice sounded close but far away, possibly standing next to Brittany. Groaning into my blankets I tried to remember what ever training I would need during a freakin' zombie apocalypse. Ugh what ever it was I better get to rising and shinning. Who ever it was sounded like he could kick my ass.

A few minutes later I stepped out of the bathroom and entered my room looking for some new clothes. Stretching out I heard bones popping into place after a very long rest. If how the bathroom looked and how I smelled were anything to go by, I had been out of it for another three or four days. Running a hand through my hair I opened up my old clothing drawer and found a nice red shirt I had gotten once Christmas. After donning the turtle neck red shift I put on some blue jeans. Searching around my closet I also decided on a Griffin hat from Bush Garden Europe. Feeling semi confident of my weird attire I stepped out of my room and headed for the busy sounding kitchen and dining room to the left.

Upon entering I noticed a Brittany in her New York hoodie bustling around. It wasn't the fact she was in my house that we weird... it was her claws. It hit me like a train. Memory after memory came rushing back to me, my neighbor being a witch, her biting me, my parents, papers,the CEDA trailer blocking the way out of the county. Most of all, I realized that rough voice had been Josh's. As if thinking about him could summon him he walked through the door leading to the back porch. He was hunched over slightly like most hunters but something seemed different.

The life and emotion in Josh's eyes was missing from most hunters. A year ago I would of shot him on sight. Now? Now I was an infected just like he was. I chuckled softly without thinking as I turned and stared out the sliding glass window at the morning sun. Light filtered through the trees as a bit of morning dew and and slight fog dissipated. If you had told me a year ago, I would become infected and not care, I would of shot you for insinuating the idea. I stepped over and leaned against the tiny corner that was there. Even just a year after, Mother Earth was on the ball taking back what was hers. The streets and sidewalks were already slowly being overgrown with grass and small bushes.

A hand, or was it claws, rested on my shoulder. Sighing I turned around and gazed into his red eyes. "It's nice to finally get to speak to you. Much better than writing." He sighed deeply at my comment and glanced at the floor. His hand slipped off my shoulder. " I'm so sorry this happened to you. You just took off and I just couldn't keep up. Anyway, Brittany and I will stand by you, through this." I smiled a small smile. His lips twitched and a bit of fangs showed. No matter how normal he might seem on the outside and even on the mental level. It was still a hunter. He was the ultimate infected and king. I chuckled softly. Maybe I loathed him for what he had, maybe I was just finally realizing how pitiful humans were. Either way I had always had a bit of jealousy reserved for hunters.

Josh sighed again, noticing my mood and walked over to talk to Brittany. I smirked inwardly as I gazed back out the window from under my bangs. If life had been normal we'd be in our senior year. If life had been normal I could be looking forward to a job. But now? The world I had grown up with was gone. Lives erased forever with the single infection of their bodily functions. A world of safety, everyday, to a world where you could end up dead for just walking out. Even in the cities with high crime rates they couldn't compare to this.

Shaking my head I continued to let my mind wander. I slowly folded my arms and leaned back. Something I would do all the time when in deep thought. I thought about everything from San Francisco, to seeing Josh for the first time, driving a train, seeing my cousin, those papers on her desk, Dominic, even coming home to see those papers in the CEDA trailer, and then Brittany. My mind wandered over my recent infection, to how did I keep my sanity when hunters and witches usually lost it for months. What was I?

With that thought I glanced down and raised an eyebrow to the claw like fingers I had resting on my arms. Looking back up and out the window my mind traveled over what I might be, from a male version of a witch, if that is even possible, to a hunter, to even the scary possibility of a jockey. Shaking away the last thought I let out a deep sigh and turned around. Josh and Brittany seemed to be conversing over by the cabinets. Noticing my gaze Josh looked over and smiled. Brittany looked to where Josh was looking and smirked a little.

Taking a deep breath I headed over to them. By now the Sun seemed to be on it's way down. Meaning I had been standing at the sliding glass window for hours just thinking. I shook my head at the thought and smiled a bit. " So you decided to join the... well I can't say the living since supposedly we aren't. You seemed deep in thought, so I didn't want to interrupt you. It seems most of your mind has been repaired, Which means you are ready to either, learn how to be what you are, or to ask hundreds of questions I can't answer. Brittany has a bet saying you would rather want to know what you are. I say you are more curious and will ask questions." Josh smirked at me. Brittany shook her head Playing along I put my hand to my face and slowly scratched my chin with my claws. I already knew my answer, but I wanted to humor them.

" I want to know what I am." I replied slowly. Brittany's grins seemed blinding. " I told you he would want to know. You may have had more personal moments with him, but I've lived next to him most of my life." To finish it off Brittany stuck her tongue out at Josh before walking off to go do something else.

Josh shook his head and stared at the ground. " Damn I thought for sure you were going to ask some random question. Oh well the other is more entertaining." With that he looked up at me and smiled. Slowly placing a hand on each shoulder I waited in anticipation for what ever he was about to say. " So do you want cranberries or shall I go find some carrots?" My look of complete confusion had him doubling over in laughter. With his hands now wrapped around his sides as he laughed, I stared on curiously.

I mean seriously, what type of question was that? " Carrots obviously." To which only furthered Josh's laughing. Finally after a few minutes of letting him get that out of his system he slowly stood up and put an arm around my shoulder guiding me toward the sliding glass door. Stepping out onto the porch he closed the door behind him before putting his arm around me again. We stepped down the steps and onto the small driveway. Josh finally sighed and patted me on the back as we turned left and started walking down the street. " It's amazing that you became a special. I swore to Brittany if you became a common I'd kill you myself. Then you go and become what you are. It's almost like someone is playing with us, eh Wolfy?" Josh chuckled softly at that. "Brittany tried her best to explain the nickname."

Continuing past homes I had once delivered papers to I realized how many zombies there weren't. I realized how empty this town really was. "To tell you the truth man, you should be just a common, or better yet dead. Instead you're a hunter like me." At that my eyes snapped over and looked at him in shock.

" I know you might of guessed it and you might of suspected it but... let it sink in. You are now infected, you are a hunter. Hard to believe a tiny infection did that." Josh turned and looked at me smiling. " A few days ago you woke up and acted perfectly fine, knew exactly what was going on, and was making large assumptions. The reason for that is simply the infection. The first two weeks it will rage through the persons body and near the middle the person will awake knowing and remember everything only to pass out not long after and going in and out of consciousness till the end when they wake up infected and either remember somethings or forget it all." Josh put his hand in his pockets as he continued to walk.

" I thought you should know before we get to where I want to preform what most hunters don't need, training. You need it for your inability to just rely on instincts at this moment." After a few minutes of walking we reached the end of the street and where it connected to another street. "Here we are. A nice large hill to practice on." Josh's voice seemed to carry a bit out here. I glanced over the metal barrier of the end of the road down the hill to the house below. In a way, it made sense. To practice where the most pain I could get was rolling onto the gravel from a fail.

Josh turned and smirked at me. " Last one to the shed gets dinner" With that he turned, and sprang forward leaping through the air . He landed right before the driveway maybe 50 feet from where I stood, at the bottom of the hill.

Taking a gulp I tried to imitate his leap. Yeah, glad he chose a hill. I fell and rolled to where he had landed first. Sighing I picked myself up and looked at where he had gone. If this first experience was anything to go by then training was not going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> March 10th, 2014
> 
> When I restarted working on this, I had a job, and my life was stable again, now nearly a week later I'm about to start a new job and my life is swinging round and round like a devilish Merry Go Round. I lost my job due to a coworkers clumsiness and now I'm having to try and figure out ways to pay rent at the end of this month because my new job doesn't start till two weeks left.
> 
> But this chapter is a bit of a refresher, and kinda helped set the new tone a bit. From here on out the story was a bit darker and the characters goals and relationships start gaining more foothold as friends and not a guy and his hunter.


	8. Training

Taking another leap Josh landed on a tree limb, then using his momentum he pushed off again and leaped onto the roof of a shed at least twenty feet away. Taking in a deep breath I pounced up into the tree, but unlike Josh I was stupid and just sat there. An earth shattering crash latter and I was on the ground with a branch the size of my wrist under me. A deep rumbling chuckle came from where Josh was at on top the shed. " Try again tender foot." Twisting around I glared up at Josh. " What the hell did you expect? I never learned to swim and jumped like a pansy. Do you expect this to be cake?" Josh laughed again looking down at me. " Do it again. Pretend your a frog and push. It's not like your running the mile."

Turning round I pushed myself up off the ground mentally cursing out Josh. Crouching down I pushed down forcing my body up. As I flew through the air I heard a voice. " Tuck in now!" without thinking I listened and tried to get as scrunched up as I could. I landed and rolled on to the roof. Well I did it, do I get a break now? Letting go of my legs, I stood up and turned to look at Josh who was shaking his head. " Kid you need to land on your feet or roll and be ready to go again. Come on, don't you know anything about parkour?" I growled low in my throat. " Yes I know about fuckin' parkour! I had a freakin' hunter teach me in New San Francisco. I mean hell this isn't like parkour this is a bunch of leaping and pretending to fly. I mean what the fuck?" Josh chuckled, " Again rookie and stop your bitching. Try and go with the flow, pick out targets before you get to them, just like parkour."

I glared after Josh as he jumped off the building and landed on the ground before bounding off into some trees, using it as a spring board, landing on the ground, then pushing off that and onto a house across the way. I let loose a snarl and jumped off the building after that snarky bastard. Using the ground like Josh did I jumped and propelled myself so the soles of my shoes faced the tree, using my momentum I kicked off it as hard as I could. Reaching out like I was super man I slowly relaxed into a ball and rolled as I hit the ground, pushing off the ground as I finished the roll. Maybe the bastard was right, maybe this was like parkour after all. As I landed on the houses roof I felt shingles dig a bit into my wrists and my shoes slide.

Glancing up I looked right into Josh's smirking face. " Come on tender foot, we have more practice to do before I let you go home." Josh jumped down off the house next to the garage and started climbing the gravel road up the hill. Sighing I followed him and dropping down off the roof.

A wave of emotions swam over me as we walked, rage at Josh for being so inconsiderate, embarrassment at how bad I was, then there was a bit of pity for no longer being human. Almost as soon as they came they were gone. After walking for a few minutes a thought popped into my head at how weird that was. Emotions just appearing and then rolling away as if it never happened. Maybe it was an infected thing

As we stepped onto the pavement I noticed the few zombies nearby. A female boomer sat in a chair and seemed to glance at us before loosing interest. A few common stumbled farther down the street. It was expected but it also hit me how many infected weren't really here. I was about to voice my revelation when Josh just took off.

Josh ran for maybe a foot or two before crouching down and leaping up onto a roof of a house to my right and then jumping from roof top to roof top. Feeling confused I crouched down and chased after him by jumping up onto the roof top and then attempting to follow.

When he came to the end of the street he stopped and sat there crouched. As I hopped from one roof to the ground, back to a roof, over to the shorter house's roof, ground, tree branch too the face, ow, ow... Okay that hurt. Covering my face I stumbled back from the tree and wobbled around for a second. After getting my barrings I shook my head and tried again to reach Josh. Hopping up onto the nearest house I aimed high to reach the one Josh was on, hoping I either over shot or landed perfectly, I mean missing it by an inch just hurts the ego a bit.

Hopping up onto the building I crawled over to where Josh sat hunched over, on the peak, gazing at the street and town below.

Memories swarmed my mind as I noticed the house across the way. An older woman had lived there and preferred her paper on the inside of the door. The house now was most likely abandoned and the fate of the senior... I shook my head and glanced at Josh. " So what got you so serious and hopping away suddenly?"

Josh glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "Smelt something on the wind." Josh glanced over the town. Frowning I sniffed the air for a few minutes. After a few good whiffs I finally smelt it, thick and musky but kinda like that savory steak you smell on the grill. It was disgusting and alluring at the same time. Without thinking I took another deep whiff and started leaning toward it. Josh growled at me, but before I knew what was happening I was flying through the air after that smell.

A loud obscenity behind me tried to drag me to the surface, but I was so far gone smelling this weird smell. I ran on all fours across the grass and jumped over a fence and onto the house's roof. From there I pounced across the street onto another houses roof. Opening my eyes I vaguely recognized the large structure of the old school turned museum a few large leaps away. Closing my eyes again I leaped from the roof onto a fence and from there up onto another house.

The smell was getting stronger the closer I got to the museum. It's four large white columns stood out as I opened my eyes and leaped down onto the sidewalk in front of it. The two lamps on either side of me sat in waist high concrete, stone covered, blocks. As I started to walk toward the school I noticed the old log house to my right that was brought in for the museum and the old one room school house to my left also brought in for the museum. As I got closer individual red bricks started standing out from the town's largest structure. As I got to the stairs leading up to the doors I took another deep breath inhaling the scent.

Faintly I heard the landing of old tennis shoes on the sidewalk behind me near the street. Without thinking I turned left and started heading round to the side of the building. I picked up the pace as if I was being pursued which in the back of my mind I realized I was. Taking another breath as I passed the door leading to the gym I realized it was getting even stronger in there. Without thinking I ripped open the door. The old metal door didn't stay on it's rusty old hinges and came off in my hand. Letting it drop to the ground I stepped into the building. As I walked down the hall I noticed a few CEDA infected and a few normal and Military clothed commons staggering around.

As I passed a large metal door that would have lead to the gym seemed welded shut. As I kept walking I passed more and more common infected. They didn't even blink as I passed, something I was still unused to. About halfway down the hall I passed some stairs leading up into the museum. Sniffing again I realized the smell was faint but was coming from down the hallway I was in. Turning my head I kept walking down the hall searching for the what I had decided was delicious smelling.

Again faintly I heard footsteps behind me on the carpeted floor. At the back of my mind I heard a panicked growl at being followed and I started almost sprinting down the hall searching for the smell. Passing another doorway leading to the gym I noticed out of the corner of my eye that it seemed to have become a temporary hospital for CEDA. Pushing a military common out of the way I jumped over the stairs and rolled before stopping and taking another sniff. It was to my left. Snapping my head I turned and headed for the thick metal door that covered what had once been the game room.

As I neared the door I kept sniffing and the smell got stronger and stronger. A smirk crept across my face. What ever smelled so delicious was in there. Using my claw I broke the lock in the door. Turning the knob I opened and stepped into what seemed to be a special room for supplies. Food, and ammo was scattered across the floor on the far right. Closing the door behind me I nearly freaked out at the sound of a cocking gun behind me. Slowly raising my hands above my head and curling my claws into fists to hide their abnormality I turned around and looked into the brown eyes of a blonde, around sixteen years old, female.

I coughed for a second and tried to remember how to speak English, already the infection was wiping away that part of me. "I need help... I was being chased by a hunter... Can I hide out here?" The female quirked her head and stepped forward lowering her gun. "That'll teach you to not carry a weapon with you. What the hell are you doing here by the way?" I smirked and stepped forward. "I was following my nose. I thought I had smelt some steaks and went out for food. Then the hunter chased me." The girl made a clicking sound at the back of her throat. "This is a zombie apocalypse what did you expect?" I smiled and laughed before said laugh turned to a cough. Bending over I coughed myself into a crouch. I could feel her eyes watching me with concern. "You okay? That's a pretty bad coughing spell."

Without thinking I felt myself spring forward and pinned her to the ground. I put my claws on both her arms to keep her down and pinned my knees to her legs. Leaning down I took a deep breath inhaling the mixtures of musk, perfume, and meat. Smirking I looked into her eyes. "If you were to live, I'd tell you to watch who you trust, but I doubt you'll get rescued." The girl under me gasped and screamed as I lifted my right clawed hand and thrust it into her stomach, then raising my left claw and doing the same. It was almost as if it was in slow motion as I started ripping into the female below me. All I seen was blood spraying across my view and sometimes feeling something rather squishy or hard under my claws.

Suddenly there was a clawed hand on my shoulder, bringing me out of my blood frenzy. Slowly blood dripped from my eyes and the feeling inside me, of wanting to rip her apart died down. Without thinking I leaned down and bit into the tendons and started chewing. Behind me I heard a chuckle. " If only you could see yourself right now." I turned around, mouth full of tendon and looked at Josh slowly cocking my head to the right. His deep chuckle vibrated around the room as he looked onto me. " At least leave me a piece and some for Brittany." I growled deeply in my throat voicing my displeasure at such a thought as giving up my catch.

Josh raised his hand and backed away, but the smile only got wider. His slightly red, sharp, teeth shined in the dim light of the battery operated lantern. Turning back around I finally got a good look at my catch, and what I had done. Realization that I had just murdered a girl, and then ate her made me a bit woozy, but it was over soon enough as I rationalized, this is what I've become. This is who I am. Glancing down at the now blood soaked blonde hair. I questioned myself, was I really okay with this? Was I just being irrational when trying to rationalize? Was I really that fucked up to not care I had just murdered this girl and ate her when she had been trying to survive as I once had. Sighing I stood up and started to walk away.

Josh smirked at me knowingly. " It's hard the first few times. You keep trying to tell yourself this is normal, but then you realize that, they were human just like you had been. Try not to feel too bad we survive on meat and sadly I couldn't have stopped you if I tried." Hanging my head a bit sadly I stepped over to the door and stepped outside. Back inside I could hear Joshing going to work and gathering us some food for the next few days. I slowly stepped up the stairs and sorta with mind numbed, started to walk home, trying my best not to think at all. It was better to just walk and not think at a time like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May 2nd, 2014
> 
> The darkest chapter to date in a way. Even in my original author note I noted that this is where I kinda just... much like a hunter leaped for the jugular and took a bit of the dark side of being a monster. If you want you can look at this as kinda getting an idea of what it was like to be a feral hunter, before a majority of their intelligence came back. At the least this chapter gave me a chance to kinda play around with the interaction between Wolfy and Josh.
> 
> Not sure when the next chapter will be out, I'm not working on a set timeline anymore because so much time has passed and because I'm waiting for my new job to start training me.


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

The chair felt hard and cool, but it was comforting. I lowered my head to the now dry, blood covered, hands. I sighed deeply. "Steven,please go and get me some eggs and milk from the store, here's some money." Slowly I raised my head and looked into the eyes of my mother. I smiled at seeing her for the first time in a year. "Gladly mom, I'd do anything for you. I've missed you so much." She seemed to smile then waver as if she was on the television. Then she disappeared completely. My smile fell and I looked down at the hard wood floor. My mother would sometimes ask me to go to the store to get her something and I would begrudgingly do it. Now I'd do anything to have that life back.

Sighing I glanced to my left. The outside world seemed dimmed in the dusty sliding glass door. The sun was now out and it seemed like noon. I laughed a little as I remembered all the games and things that used to happen on that deck. Memories whirled through my mind as I remembered Brittany, a few summer friends, and I having an "Ice Cream Sundae Shop" imaginary game where we made our own ice cream sundaes.

"Wolfy, how are you doing? I seen you come in and you looked... To be honest you look like a mess." My lips twitched up as I turned around to Brittany walking into the room. " I could be holding out better but... ya know.. it's weird. Being here, this way, seeing things I used to know and... knowing that nothing can go back to normal, that this is it." I chuckled a little looking back at the floor.

Brittany walked around the front of my chair and took a seat to my right. " All that's left of humanity are the structures and even those will fall someday." I let out a small laugh. " Hell what's left of the human race is banded together in little settlements. Barely able to repopulate the billions of dead and infected." Shaking my head I glanced up to see Brittany's mournful look. " We've seen it personally how much a virus has done. Something so small changed our world overnight. Heck, rash decisions are the least of our worries with hordes of zombies and the special infected."

I leaned back in the chair and waved my hands toward the air before putting them in my lap. Brittany laughed a little at this. " Always the philosophical one. Just think what my eight year old self would say knowing I was sitting here having a civil conversation with the kid I used to torment." She let out another laugh. " I was a bitch to you in elementary school. It still boggles my mind how you could always forgive me so quickly for the hell I put you through back then, let alone recently when I attacked you."

I smirked and glanced up from where my eyes had dropped at the memories. " I guess I just saw more there. A kindness and heart that didn't show itself till High School. Kinda wish it had appeared earlier." Brittany shook her head and stood up reaching her claws towards me. " Care to walk with me? I think you need to clear your mind and a good walk might do that." I smiled and pushed myself off the chair. " Sounds like a good idea Brittany. Let us go for an undead walk."

Brittany laughed and stepped into the living room. " Where did you get your sense of humor? You never used to know how to take a joke let alone tell one till High School." I smirked and followed after her. " Helps when you have a lot of kids picking on you." Brittany stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind me. "Just wanted to let you know that the cats are little darlings. I never got to fully understand your pets but after spending so much time with them I think I fully understand the appeal. Their just like people." I chuckled at that and smiled at her.

Opening the door I stepped out into the cooling air and started walking down the street, hands in my pockets. I heard Brittany close the door and come running after me " Gee gonna take off already? What happened to walking with me?" I glanced over at her from the corner of my eye. " Decided I might need a head start if you lost your head." She waved at me and blew off my comment. "Please, I only do that once a month anymore. You just caught me at a bad time."

Our walk turned to silence after that. We mindlessly walked around the ruins that had once been our hometown. Grass two feet high in some locations. Concrete and tarmac was cracked and eroding away slowly. Rusting cars along the sides of the streets. At one time I was sure I was going to break down crying at seeing buildings that had been bombed during the final days. We had passed Josh but he seemed to know something and just kept walking passed us without saying anything. The sweet scent around the museum had dissipated and now it was starting to reek of death just like everything else in this world.

I sighed and frowned as we turned back onto the street where we started. No thoughts had really entered my mind but I felt more relaxed, as if I had just spent an hour talking to a psychiatrist. I glanced down towards the end of the street where Josh and I had started " Hunter Training" as I called it. Suddenly I saw cars moving down the street, a woman walking the dog, a jogger. Then just as quick as they appeared they disappeared.

I felt my shoulders slump and exhaustion overwhelmed me. I stopped walking and just stood there, head hanging. A month after I left New San Francisco something must have happened. I started seeing things clear as day happening, that weren't happening. A residual memory if you will. At first it was startling, but after a few months it has become the norm and I've just labeled it a side affect of this infection and my unstable mentality. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I glanced up into the worried eyes of Brittany. I smirked as memories flashed into my mind of all the times we played together, walked to the bus stop, and even fought with each other. People used to say we fought like brother and sister and only now did I realize it was because in a way, we were.

I gave her a small smile and started walking again toward my house. Brittany seemed to hang back a bit before following after me. It was after stepping into the two story white house I noticed something was off. Turning around I saw Brittany sprinting toward the house. Storm clouds had gathered over us during our walk and as she neared the house the first audible rumble of thunder sounded through the silent valley. I stepped aside and held the door open till Brittany was in then I let it go and pushed it tight. Funny how even after the world ends you remember and do the most mundane things.

Brittany opened the hall door and stepped into the house. I followed behind shortly closing the door behind me and smirking at the once again programmed things into my mind from a normal life. The floor boards of the house creaked under me as I walked to the kitchen. Josh was leaning against a kitchen counter as he and Brittany silently conversed. I glanced to the left out the sliding glass door and noticed it started to rain.

Turning back toward Josh and Brittany I noticed they had fallen silent. Falling silent isn't a cause for notice though, nor the alarm I now felt as I watched the two of them stand there, still, not even moving a muscle. If I didn't know better I'd of thought they were lifelike statues. Then I heard it, under lying the rumble of thunder was a vehicle. Not just any vehicle tho. I knew that engine anywhere after my first encounter with it. Dominic had decided to come to town.

My infected blood turned to ice. I glanced from Josh to Brittany. I spun around on my heel and dashed into the house. I started closing every curtain I could. I even locked the front door. I knew if Dominic came here he'd most likely blow off the doors but if he didn't I might be able to just speak to him through the dark windows and tell him I'm okay and ask him to leave, that I was mourning or something. There was no way I wanted that infected hater to know what I had become.

Dominic had at one time been one of my good friends, I even grew up knowing him and his family and at one time almost because cousins, but that won't stop him from killing me. If my short experience was anything to go by then I knew he had finally broke. This is the world his mind had created and designed while talking to us about becoming a dictator and murdering people. The world he created whenever he was in charge. With it becoming a reality he seems to have finally cracked and become a psychopath which only wishes to survive on killing, food, and the smell of guns. He would rather die in an explosion than being bit or eaten.

I smiled a little bit I walked back into the kitchen to find Josh and Brittany moving and acting livid. They didn't know how Dominic was but Josh had seen him in passing and I assumed what he knew wasn't good. Brittany had probably heard of Dominic in passing, but she didn't really know him, meaning she was most likely following Josh's orders. Josh had closed the curtains for the sliding glass door and was locking the main door. Brittany seemed to be searching for something but I couldn't tell what.

As the thunder got louder so did the Hummer. I glanced over at Josh. " Dominic doesn't know where I live but there are only a few houses in this town. Three or four days of exploring and he will be on our doorstep, and that's only at the most." Josh nodded taking in the recent information. "Also, Dominic isn't one to back down. If you see him, run and try and lose him before ever coming back near the house. If he's looking for us he might leave tonight and comeback tomorrow ready to explore the town for us or something. We don't know if he's here for us but lets assume he is."

I glanced over to where Brittany was searching through the kitchen drawers. Josh glanced at her then back at me, " She said she needed a pan to hit someone with. No idea why, she has those claws." Josh shrugged his shoulders and smirked over at me. I smirked back and continued where I had left off.

"We should probably start looking for a way out of town. If Dominic is here for us we need to be ready to go. Since most cars run on gas I doubt any of them will have any left but the buses run on diesel. Very few vehicle run on that so it will most likely still be down at the bus garage. We could load up a bus and get the hell out of here. Maybe Miss Spencer, after she finds her pan, can start getting a list together for what we might need. I'll try and get anything I want to keep to put on the bus. If we do use the bus though, we need to make sure it isn't when Dominic is around." Josh's face twisted as he took in everything I had just told him. After coming to a conclusion he nodded in agreement and went over to tell Brittany. Sighing I backed out of the dining room and walked to my personal bed room.

It wasn't even ten minutes later that the rain started coming down. Lighting and thunder roared over the town. I shivered as I sat in my room in my swivel chair reading a book. The other two had went to do their own things I think Brittany was writing down a checklist of to-dos and needed items for the trip we were planning while josh on the other hand had bowed out saying he was heading to check out the bus garage and see if what I said held any truth in reality and not just theory.

Sighing I put down my book and looked around the light blue room. Memory after memory passed through my mind as I thought about who had lived in this room, how it became mine, what transpired in the room. I sighed and leaned back in the chair.

My mind wandered back to the last few weeks and what had transpired. I had been on my way to New York when a hunter decided to show up, once again reminding me of home. Said hunter doesn't kill me, but follows me on a train to Pittsburgh. The same hunter then walks beside me into Pittsburgh and meets Janis, and my remaining family.

Wait, Janis... Oh dear lord poor innocent, perverted Janis. I shook my head slowly as a smile formed. "You know Steve, I think you should keep him. He might help you out in more ways than one." I chuckled a little knowing what she was thinking. She had been one of the few people to get close to me when I had visited Pittsburgh. She was also one of the few people in this insane world that knew I was more interested in men than women. She was the only person to know that I preferred hunters to humans though.

I giggled a little thinking about how ironic it was that I had become what I had always dreamed of sleeping with. Janis would just go nuts and giggle and squeal about it. I was never the type of guy to be flamboyant in public, but when I was alone with people like Janis I would just let go and giggle and laugh and be excited with them.

I shook my head and cleared my mind of the thoughts with a smile on my face. Then to round off the past week I had found one of my closest friends to be insane and hateful toward infected. Then after arriving at the town I called home, I find out my parents are dead and I, myself, get infected by my neighbor turned witch. After that I went through a week of being sick and changing. And yesterday and today was filled with becoming a hunter, having my first taste of flesh, and now fearing for my life because I have become what Dominic hates and wishes to kill while one of natures best firework shows, thunder storms, goes on outside. I let out a happy sigh as I took it all in, what an adventure.

If I died tomorrow I would die being mostly happy. I could die with that, for right now. Tomorrow I would once again fear dying and not have that positive of an outlook, but insane situations and looking back are what I thrive on when all the odds are against me.

I sighed as another bout of thunder brought me back to reality. Glancing down at my book, one thought entered my brain before I went back to reading. Why hadn't Josh attacked? Why has he been following me? With those final thoughts I delved back into my book, more interested in the lives of fictional characters than the fates of Brittany, Josh, Dominic, and I. Be it we get out of here okay, or Dominic kills us either way, it was going to be a story I would rather focus on later.


	10. Packing

"We're lucky, the buses run on diesel otherwise, we'd need another plan. Also while I was out I decided to investigate what Dominic was up to. Seems to me he was scavenging houses for something, though he has given us a wide berth by starting on the far side. Doesn't mean he won't be here after a day or two though. He really seems to be searching for what ever it is. Almost as if his life depended on it." I glanced over to Brittany who was watching the last of the storm disappear outside the kitchen window. I sighed and rubbed my claws gently against my forehead. She wasn't much help at inspiring confidence and Josh's report was stressful. If Dominic was searching for something then it would be much, much better if we disappeared now. The part that hurt my plan the most was the fact his hummer was rigged with insane and almost impossible firearm configurations. It seemed like something out of a comic book or action movie.

I stood up and started to pace thinking over Josh's report, the bus would be a fast way out, but much slower than other means. Perhaps we could plan out an escape route through the streets of town then try to escape on the main road? Lose Dominic in town and out run him to the border. I glanced sideways at the shotgun and machine guns on the kitchen counter. We could always shoot back, but that would be a waste of ammo and time. If it all came down to it I could try to snipe from the back of the school bus if Dominic stayed on us even after getting out of town.

My gray cat, Wilbur, meowed and rubbed against my leg asking for attention I smiled down at him and bent down to pet him. I had washed the blood off in the rain when bored. Sadly my clothes were still bloody though you can't do much about that. Wilbur had been the talker out of all my cats. He was ornery as could be but so lovable. I wouldn't be able to leave them alone when we left. That was for sure if I knew Dominic well enough. He wasn't exactly the type to take to pets and I was pretty sure if his unstable mind came in contact with anything moving or breathing he would just shoot.

The boom of a shotgun a few streets away emphasized my mental point. Finally my pacing paid off, I had an idea. "Brittany, come here." My infected voice carried through the house. She had disappeared during my brainstorming. Stomping from the basement could be heard as Brittany bust through the door. "What?" She seemed a bit upset at being interrupted from what ever she was doing. "When we go to escape, we need you to stay here at the house." Brittany blinked at me once, twice, three times. "Are you seriously thinking of leaving me, asshole?" I smirked at her. "No, but we need someone to keep the cats company as Josh and I get the bus." To this I noticed Josh just quirked his head a little at this.

Brittany stepped into the dining room and leaned against the wall. "So are you going to fill us in on this plan or should we guess it?" I smiled walking over to the curtains on the sliding glass door across the room from her and turned around to face them. "What we'll do is load the bus up with anything we need to keep, blankets, personal items, etc. Then Josh and I will start the bus and lead Dominic, who will ultimately follow us, around town. We will finish by driving by and crossing into the churches parking lot. You will be here at the house with the two cats in your hands and will run to the bus as we slow to make the turn and get in. After that we will exit the base of the parking lot onto the street and head for Main Street, where we will turn left and head toward the river. CEDA may have blocked the road with their trailer, but there is a farm across the stream and I bet that stream won't be too hard to cross at the far end if we are going fast enough. After that we will have left Dominic in the dust and will be well on our way to the Ohio River to start our trek to somewhere else."

Brittany raised an eyebrow skeptically. Josh on the other hand nodded once agreeing with the plan. "Now that we have a plan out of the way, let us get packing. Brittany you should go get any valuable or anything you just can't leave. I'm going to get the rest of my clothes and some items I'd like. Like our DVD collection, Xbox 360, PC.. Pictures... hmm I think the suitcases my family took to Disney help me out on this issue." I clapped my claws together and headed for the stairs in the living room. Brittany let out a laugh and passed me by heading to the front door.

I heard Josh follow me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed he had his arms crossed. As I climbed up the old steep steps memories of my childhood on them, falling on them, and the fear of heights afterwards, rushed at me. As I stepped onto the second floor I glanced to the left. The second living room as I had always thought of it. The stairs were lined with a plaster banister with wood top and the room was just wide and open with a wood floor. It had been where a good portion of my youth was spent before heading to bed. It was, the second living room.

I walked around the banister and walked to the door at the other end, my uncles room when ever he visited. The floor in there was a vintage blue carpet. Only two windows but the bed and cabinet had been moved. Turning right I opened the closet door and stepped into it. There sat the largest of the suitcases we had. Inside it were the smaller ones.

Grabbing the handle I pulled it behind me as I headed back into the upstairs main room. Josh was standing next to the stairs. "Is your computer and Xbox really that important?" I laughed a little as I dragged the suitcases behind me. " Actually Josh, they are. They represent two times in my life where I just focused on something and made it happen." Josh nodded slowly as if understanding, though I doubt he did.

I picked the suitcases up and carried them down the stairs. "Now I have a question Josh. Why didn't you attack me?" As I reached the bottom I glanced back at him. " You know back at the house where we first met." I put the suitcase down and pulled it behind me again. I could hear Josh let out a little cough. I smirked at the obvious sign of discomfort. "What made you decide not to end my life? And don't give me any of that ' you seemed like me' bullshit." I stepped into my room and listened carefully as Josh stepped into the small hall behind me. I picked up the suitcase and laid it on my bed.

Turning around I looked at Josh. " So, why did you let me live?" I could barely even hear myself now. All emotion and energy drained from me with one question. His face seemed to only show a brief moment of shock before a blush started to stain his cheeks. "Long story." He glanced to the right and tried to focus on the mirror. Sighing I turned back around and pulled the other 4 suitcases out like a Russian doll.

Turning back around I started putting the rest of my clothes into one of the medium suitcases. "We've got the time and all I'm going to do is load these up with clothes, books, computers, and pictures. I'm sure we have time to get through your story, my story, and maybe even some other stories." Josh let out a deep chuckle. "Fine, I was hungry, you smelled delicious... and well... when I arrived I seen how cute you looked. I decided then and there I wouldn't eat you because I didn't want to harm your innocent beauty."

I slowly turned and smiled at Josh. "Do you really think I'm cute?" I felt my voice crack a tiny bit at the end and I blushed deeply. Josh let out a bark of a laugh. "Cute? When you were human you were cute. Now your gorgeous." My face turned red as I turned around and started loading the medium size bag with games, and CD's and other personal effects like my mouse and keyboard as well as their wires. I tried my hardest to take my mind off what Josh had just admitted to me be it directly or indirectly.

I had emptied out my clothes drawers and a few items I hadn't taken running the first time, I'd even taken the HD TV, I don't know why I left my computer though. I wrapped all the wires and the computer up and lowered it into the largest suitcase then packed underwear and other articles I had accidentally left behind my first time. As I finished that up I opened my closet and took out year books, calendars, some old magazines, certain special stuff animals, and a few blankets. I placed these around the computer and in the medium small bag.

After I had finished, " loading up" as Josh had started calling it whenever he popped in my doorway, I headed out into the house to get photo albums, pictures on the walls and a few other things, like the entire DVD collection. After grabbing everything that had any meaning to me I had Josh help me carry my stuff to the bus we had chosen. It was sorta ironic but I had actually chosen bus twenty five when arriving at the bus garage. Reason being that bus twenty five was the bus I rode to school from kindergarten till fifth grade. Also because I loved the number twenty five after seeing bus twenty five twenty five in "Speed."

Pushing the luggage into the seats midway through the bus I heard Josh chuckle a little. Before I knew it I had slipped and fell down onto my knees. The skin stung as I looked up and glared at Josh in the drivers seat. He just raised his eyebrows at me and looked out the door to the "bus grave yard" as we had started calling it. Standing back up I brushed my hands off on my blue jeans and glanced out the windows. A few rows away I noticed Brittany walking lopsided with two duffle bags. As she neared I realized that she had changed her clothes and was no longer wearing her NYC hoodie and was in fact wearing a light blue jacket. If it hadn't have been for the red eyes and deadly claws I would of never suspected her of being infected.

Turning I watched as she climbed the steps onto the bus. Josh nodded his head at her as she passed him.

I spoke up as Brittany got closer. " So, here we are, about to leave the small town we grew up in. Any last words for the town?" I gave her a playful smile. She tried her hardest to grin. "I'd like to say I'll miss it. I never really wanted to leave but life here has become dangerous and I'd rather not die at a young age. Who knows, following you two around might be the most sane thing I've done since becoming... this." She waved slightly toward herself.

I walked toward her and placed my clawed hand on her right shoulder. She looked up into my eyes. I gave her the most comforting smile I could muster in my new state. " Don't worry Brittney. We'll be out of here in no time. Having adventures and having the time of our infected lives. I'm not gonna let you or Josh die. I promise you that." Brittany let out a sigh and gave me a thankful smile before pushing past me towards the back of the bus. I shook my head sadly and headed for the front where Josh sat.

As I neared I noticed he also seemed grim, but more upbeat than Brittany. " She's right you know. This was her world and from what I can tell she has many good memories but the recent horrific ones haunt her the most. I think she'll be okay and go through with the plan, it's just making sure she doesn't mess up getting to the plan. Anyway you should go back to the house and sleep. I'll stay behind for a few with her and see if I can siphon a bit more gas for this beast." I went to open my mouth to reject his request, but Josh beat me to it and just waved me off pointing toward the town. " Bed, now, and if you don't go I'll bend you over my leg and give you a spanking." I raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Kinky." Josh choked for a second and hit me in the back of the head. "Bed!" I laughed and turned around stepped off the bus. " Okay, okay!" I glanced over my shoulder back at Josh and noticed he was looking a little red while laughing a little. I bent down and started my jump across town.

As I stepped into the house I felt any energy I had left in my body, dissipate. This would be the last time, in my life, ever that I would sleep, live, and even see this house in a world not of two dimensions or in a memory of three. I touched the wall as I walked toward my bed room. The wooden walls recalled memory after memory of arguments and birthday parties, to Christmas and Easter. As I stepped into my bedroom I noticed Wilbur and Patches curled up on my bed as if knowing what tomorrow would bring. I looked out the Lionel curtains. At the dusk that was setting.

I wished I could take everything. That I would leave nothing behind. I had already got most of what I could and loaded it onto the bus. Tomorrow would be the last batch of things, like these curtains and a few other oddities, but I was taking the curtains more to protect other items, like my model trains or my mothers glass cat, even the beautiful glasses, and other valuable items from my great grandmother and family members I had never met.

Even with all that though there was so much more I wouldn't be able to take. The feeling and smell of the house, VHS tapes, paintings, a few posters, a few blankets and sheets wouldn't be able to go, even my extensive Brio trains would have to stay here in the basement. To some, these things shouldn't matter. That these are all unneeded items. Unlike other though, I see history in items. The world as we knew it ended and we are rebuilding a new world in this infected infested world. It will be historically beneficial to collect our history and save it. Not to mention it helps me sleep better at night knowing I had a reason to take most of my stuff with me.

Sighing one last time I slowly crawled onto the bed and laid between the two cats. My eyes slowly closed as I drifted to sleep. My mind wandered over all that has to be done and all that has been done. Before sleep took over fully I had one final thought, would we be able to do all this? What if it is for nothing and Dominic blows us to sky high tomorrow? With that I fell into a deep unsettling sleep.


	11. Speed

A pale mist floated across the ground. Inhaling deeply I smiled at the mornings crisp air. Sighing I glanced back into the house where Josh was getting the guns ready. I heard vague cussing some where in the distance, Brittany was chasing the cats down putting them in cat carriers, they weren't having any of it an were running circles round her. 

Turning back round my gaze fell to where I had been looking, a small field next to Brittany's house. As I stared into the distance I let the stress and nervousness of today's tasks just float away. We could be trying anything and I would believe it was going to go well. A tiny voice in the back of my mind called bullshit, but I ignored it defiantly.

The silence the apocalypse had brought about seemed more oppressive than usual this morning. A bird chirped in the distance, a common infected moaned, somewhere I heard a wheezing cough of a smoker. None of this mattered though. The reason we were leaving was asleep, and to the best of our abilities we had packed up and were trying to escape.

Letting out relaxed sigh and I turned and headed back into the house. I glanced over at Josh as I passed. It seemed he was finishing up an AK-47 before placing it in the crate. My driveway that had at one time been covered with weapons was nearly clear. Stepping up the front stairs I entered the house.

Walking onto the front porch I noticed Brittany was staring out the front windows towards the church across the street. I stepping up beside her, she glanced over at me. "Today is the day Steven. The day we get out of here and start our new lives as infected friends." I smiled at her before turning back to the church. "Yeah it is Brittany, as soon as we are out of here though, lets drop the formalities and other bullshit. Just call me Wolfy. I have since dropped the name Steven, an with becoming infected I feel it's only fitting that that name be left in the past."

Brittany gave me a shocked look before it slowly turned into a smirk. " Okay, Wolfy. Taking an old nickname from High School an just making it a name, Ryan Summers would either be proud or upset that his teasing backfired." With that she smiled an pat me on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go get a few of my personal belongings, see you in a few." Nodding I watched as she took slow steps an exited the room. I let out a sigh and crouched down next to the cat carriers. Smiling at Wilbur and Patches, I gently put my index claw through the cage. "I've missed you two. Lets get you somewhere safe." Picking up the car carriers I lugged them out to the bus. Looking at it's layout I decided to put them down near the middle where we planned to have Brittany stationed. Smiling at them one last time I left an went to help Josh.

It was only a half hour later and Josh and I were lugging the crate of weapons, and the last of the supplies onto the bus. Brittany had said she was going to say one last goodbye. I knew this was going to be hard for her, leaving the only family she had had left. Even now that they were no longer living, it would haunt her till the end. I could only hope she was as strong as I thought an move past it an keep living, or well as much living as the infected could do.

Taking a deep breath I let it out slowly. My nerves were up the wall now that it was almost go time. A shotgun blast in the distance shattered the previous silence. Dominic was now awake an hunting. Slowly I made my way to the crate where Josh was standing. Reaching in I randomly pulled out an AK-47 Josh had finished earlier. Josh handed me a cartridge labeled 7.62x39mm, "That should fit, just hold off firing if possible, we might be able to be stealthy a bit longer." I nodded at Josh before smirking. "Alright, go ahead an head to the front, need you to be in your position so we can get out of here fast." Josh mock saluted before crouching an making his way to the bus' driver seat.

Adrenaline slowed down the world as my eyes locked on the back door. We were just about to take on the most insane plan since I hijacked a train. We had no idea if the bus would turn on, or blow up, or maybe it would do nothing. Sighing I came back to reality in time to hear the shotgun shots getting closer.

Giving Josh the thumbs up I realized just what I was doing. Dread and impending doom I crashed into me an felt like a 5 ton weight as Josh turned the key. The engine sputtered and came to life. Shock crossed my face as I stared at Josh's back. The constant gunfire in the distance stopped. I watched in fear as Josh put the bus into gear. If I hadn't of known the general workings of a car I would of thought he was trying to fly a 747.

It was when we started moving that I realized what the hell we had just gotten ourselves into. A few wandering common that had been ignoring us came running toward our loud, moving, machine. Climbing onto one of the back seats I lowered the window and poked my gun through. I held back on shooting them as Josh gunned the gas an we pulled out.

We swerved out of the bus garage, heading right before turning onto the road leading to a bridge. I felt the gravity force me against the wall as he took the sharp corner at a speed a bit higher than ten miles per hour.

Crossing the bridge I watched as Josh swerved over the lanes to the far side to take a wide turn to the left onto the road leading to Main Street. I was hanging onto the seat in front of me, digging my claws in as we made the turn. As soon the bus made the turn, we turned right and started heading up the hill to town.

The sound of an another engine starting reached my ears. Spinning tires and the gunning of another diesel engine sounded like death. I felt the bus lift up a bit as the bus topped the hill and we started passing the businesses and old cars on Main Street.

We barely passed two stores before I head the squealing of tires behind us as a large black Hummer drifted onto Main Street. As we neared the gas station on the right side of the street I shot out the windows toward the Hummer. I quickly glanced backwards and watched as Josh wide turned the bus onto the street beside the towns library. Unlike how it had felt at ten miles per hour to turn at twenty miles per hour a turn that sharp jarred me as I was was literally thrown out of my seat into the one across the isle.

The engine of the bus gave a leap in gears as it sounded like Josh gassed it, heading straight for a small gravel pathway next to the local carpentry store. This was not part of the plan. We were supposed to turn left here and lose Dominic in the streets, not go off-roading through peoples backyards.

Quickly I attempted to regain my balance. Lowering the window next to my seat I attempted to start firing again. I watched as the Hummer drifted behind us, trying to get in line with our bus. I could hear gunshots as the machine guns under the Hummer came to life. Quickly I leaped toward the front of the bus. As I landed I took cover behind the crate of guns. I glanced at my cats as they sat in their carriers. They were scarred but I at least knew they were safe behind the bulletproof vest we had covering them.

" Shit, no road!" Josh's voice carried back to me as he gunned it, pressing the petal as hard as he could. The engine let out a roar or protest as the bus crashed through a fence.

I sunk my claws into the plastic seat and used it to leverage myself up. As the bus bounced over the grass I glanced into the gun crate. A smile spread across my face I noticed a few small, green, round objects. Without a second thought I grabbed one an pushed past the crate as I made my way to the back of the bus again.

I managed to stay on my feet mostly as the we bounced over the rough ground. Josh swerved left around a building as we bounced some more. Dominic on the other hand went to swerve and found the wet grass unrelenting as he spun out. His heavy, tricked out, vehicle crashed into the building, getting the better of him. It only took a few seconds before the wheels were spinning and he was attempting to catch up again.

After narrowly missing a tree on the left Josh pulled the bus onto a gravel driveway before crashing through some hedges heading across a sunken garden for the street. As we pulled out onto the street I found Dominic had finally freed his vehicle an was driving slower to avoid the obstacles Josh was expertly missing. As the Hummer started speeding up again to catch up I pulled out the pin on the grenade and threw it out the back window. Josh spun the wheel to the right hard and and we bumped over the curb so that we could make that ninety degree turn at something more than a crawl.

The grenade bounced on the road, once, twice, boom. The explosion in the road caused Dominic to brake,an slow down again. " Josh, that should buy us some time, so lets not waste it." I called over my shoulder. As I watched the street we had just turned off disappear I judged we had bought ourselves a good bit of time to do a short pickup.

Walking to the front I watched my childhood home coming up fast on the right side of the street. Brittany was a small dot with red on it's top standing beside the parking lot next to the church. "Josh take it down to about fifteen miles per hour on this turn and bring us down to at least five or so for the pick up. Just because we earned ourselves some time doesn't mean we should waste it. After that I want you to make a left and follow the road. Easier to get out there then where I wanted you to go originally." Josh nodded, taking in my directions quickly and seeming to mentally reinforce our already shot plan. I heard squealing tires once more as the Hummer drifted onto my home street. Josh spun the wheel to the left and the bus popped up for a brief second before coming down hard on the tarmac of the church's parking lot.

Josh opened the doors for Brittany. She quickly climbed aboard with her lone suitcase. "Welcome aboard Hell Tours, please take your seat where ever an please arm yourself. If you have any questions please wait till after the tour." Brittany rolled her eyes at Josh as she rushed toward the gun crate, leaving her suitcase in a seat. The bus took a slow turn to the left before picking up speed. Dominic finally caught up, I fired shots off at him as his Hummer surged over the curb an into someones yard as he attempted to make a straight line for us. "Josh, time's up, time for more speed!" I heard him grunt before the bus lurched forward around the first right turn. I braced myself for another right turn. As we came out Josh sped up again, we were now heading straight back for Main Street, and the main route out of here.

I vaguely heard the Hummer crash an the engine revving. Sadly I wasn't the only one who knew these street an after a few seconds there was more squealing of tires but no sign of Dominic behind us. The bus was picking up speed as we neared the end of the street. I glanced back at Brittany, she was now holding an M-15 as she stood in her position, staring out the window.

" Hold on! This turns gonna be painful!" Josh's voice was punctuated by the sound of an engine being revved, bullets being fired, and the returning fire from Brittany an I as we caught a glimpse of Dominic sitting pretty up on a hill. The bus rocked as we first went right then left, I wasn't sure of the speed but I did know this was the hardest turn Josh has attempted yet and the most dangerous. Both Brittany an I dug our claws in as the bus tilted slightly to the outside of the curve.

It was only a few seconds but it seemed like minutes when we came out of the sharp curve and were on the main road heading out of town. The dust trail from our sharp turn was soon pushed out of the way as Dominic's Hummer drifted after us. As we sped passed the grave yard I rushed to crate. This was a part of the plan I had left out telling Brittany an Josh. Reaching in the crate I pulled out three more grenades. The bus an Hummer sped passed the local grocery story as we started down the hill. 

Opening the window I glanced back at the Hummer, I felt a bit of remorse, Dominic had once been a good friend, an while this might not kill him, in a way, it would be like killing him. As we neared the bridge I pulled the pins. "One, Two..." I dropped them out the window as we crossed. "Three, Four..." I watched as they bounced toward the middle of the bridge as we sped away from it. 

It felt like time slowed down as I watched Dominic's Hummer speed onto the bridge. Tick, tick, boom. My eyes widened an I gasped as the grenades exploded, Dominic's Hummer above them. The Hummer's shell lifted up into the air as the bullets an explosives rigged to the bottom of it went off. I watched the vehicle land on the ground, insides black, grinding along the rode. The bullet proof glass was melted and looked like plastic but as I stared into the windows I realized, he'd been too fast, too close. Dominic was, sadly, dead, by my own hand.

I stared off into the distance, watching the flames lick the ground an trees next to where the bridge has used to stand. The bus rounded a corner am blocked our view with a hill. I slumped down into the seat. Brittany came back down an sat with me. I let out a very uncomfortable cry, a choked sob I knew I could never continue. We were alive, barely, but in the process I had killed my old friend.

I slowly ran my claws through my hair as Josh slowed down. I felt his eyes glancing back at me, but I couldn't care. Closing my eyes, I leaned back. Brittany sat there beside me as we drove on in silence. Finally after a while I looked up into her eyes an found a deep understanding an sadness. She glanced up from me an looked out the window, I watched as both pain an longing crossed her face. " I wish we could just... go back."

Turning I looked out the window with her. There, across the creek was our school, a high school, middle school hybrid. I didn't have the fondest memories but I understood what she meant. Go back to a time when her family was alive an our biggest worry was what we'd do after we graduated. 

Leaning back against the hard, cold, metal wall I closed my eyes and frowned. I couldn't change the past but I could escape the present in sleep. Before I knew it I was out cold. I could vaguely hear the bus' humming as Josh drove us down the road and away from what would now be known as our own personal hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been stressing over work recently, an a move I've been attempting to plan. To relax I've decided to take a few days an rewrite an update a few more chapters. The lack of updates was sadly due too constant work an lack of creative spark but some coworkers are nudging me back into old habits an hopefully that's a good thing for you, the readers.
> 
> Also, to those who once read this before on another website, I've said it before but I'll say it again, this isn't just a re-post this is being rewritten. This chapter is heavily modified compared to the original, some events happening earlier an others being cut entirely. Rereading I find it intriguing what was changed an what stayed. Almost makes me excited for what's to come now that we are out of the survival section.


	12. Traveling Arousal

The subtle feeling of a hand pushing against my shoulder dislodged me from my beautiful rest. I tried to curl into myself to escape the hand and only felt it start to shake me. Groaning I opened an eyelid and glanced at the, bleh, sunny world. I rolled over tucking my hands under my armpits. " Wake me up when it's raining or something. I don't wanna be this depressed waking up." I heard a chuckle and a giggle from somewhere above me.

I groaned again. "Can't you let me sleep? You really have to humiliate me?" The giggling continued but the chuckling slowly stopped. I slightly opened my eyelids and gazed at Josh's face. He was smirking mischievously. "Where would the fun be in living if we didn't get to humiliate you?" I growled a little at him feeling insulted. Well I would of if I hadn't of yawned. Rolling my eyes I glared from where I was laying on the cushion of a bus seat.

Feeling more awake I glared at Josh between rubbing the sleep out of my eyes with the palms of my hands. "So why did you wake me up, and why aren't you driving?" I was in, all honesty, curious why they would rouse me from sleep after our escape. Josh continued smirking and offered me a hand up. I glared at it before finally grabbing a hold of it, and hoisting myself up. I quickly glanced outside, to my realization we were parked outside of a motel in a town along the Ohio River. Maybe an hour from where we had just left.

I sighed and raised an eyebrow realizing the question they must be wondering. What's next? I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Cross the bridge, head south along the river. When we get on the interstate in Marietta we head west. I've got a place to live in New San Francisco, plus I have a good connections there, might be able to help you both get set up." Josh nodded while Brittany raised an eyebrow. I waved her off. "Helped a lot of people right after the infection, made a lot of friends an few of them owe me."

The motor sputtered to life. Glancing up front I noticed Josh had sneaked away after helping me up. I smirked as Brittany nearly lost her balance when we started moving. I leaned into the motion and quickly had myself balanced and ready. "You know, I found out riding a boat, train, heck even a bus is all alike. Just move with the motion and you will find your self perfectly fine. Just shift your weight with it." Brittany glared daggers at me. I let loose a chuckle and started heading for the front of the bus.

I carelessly flopped down onto one of the front seats and leaned casually against the wall. "You know, so much has changed. In a way I miss the old world, simple, free, video games, laziness. But then again I'd never want to give this up either: zombies, shotguns, acceptance of homosexuality,less STDs,no taxes, no lines, no rules, no limits, heck special infected are also awesome now. I mean seriously, we're like super hero's... except more like the villains but still super." I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Josh was smirking. I rolled my eyes at him. " Yes that is a nerdy thing to think but seriously if you think about it we are." Josh shook his head and went back to looking at the road.

Rolling my eyes I turned to Brittany. She had curled up into the corner of her seat and was looking at me. "I guess I could see where you are coming from, but Wolfy... don't you miss your loved ones? Don't you miss a normal life?" A pang of guilt and hurt hit me as mental images of my parents and brothers came to mind. I let out a deep sigh, falling victim to memories. "I miss them, yes, but the world has changed and I don't know if they would have been able to take what the world has become." A stressed smile crossed my lips as I glanced up from where my gaze had fallen. " But lets not dwell on the past, we are three special infected taking a road trip across America in an old school bus. This is the here and now."

Josh glanced back, and gave me an encouraging smile as if he knew something I did not. When I failed to pick up his cues he gave a small chuckle before training his eyes on the road again, shaking his head. I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Brittany, but she was just smiling and looking at her nails. It seemed like they both knew something more about our "here an now" than I did. I rolled my eyes and decided to change the topic.

"So speaking of my new home, this buddy of mine who is a half deformed charger tried to convince me that as a partial charger he'd play better football than any survivor. So naturally I went behind his back and told our council who, quite happily, set up a survivors versus special infected game. Oh that was a hoot. After the game a smoker ended up asking this girl he liked on the survivor team out and my charger buddy met his latest girlfriend, a spitter, named Daniel. I can't wait to introduce you guys to them. They're such a lovely couple." Brittany smiled and slowly shook her head at me. "Wolfy your gay side is showing. I swear you get anymore flamboyant an you'll fart rainbows."

I crossed my arms an pouted at Brittany. Well... I would have pouted if Josh hadn't busted out laughing and started swerving the bus across the road into the other lane. As Josh calmed down he glanced back at Brittany an I grinning. "You two better shut the hell up, or I'll turn this bus around and we'll go back." I looked at Josh aghast. "Please no, I'd rather not face that place again, besides..." I stared up into the rear view mirror at Josh. I could barely feel anything as my face conformed to a deadpan look. Slowly I raised an eyebrow. "Where would we go back too? Your place? Yes please." Josh groaned and went back to looking ahead trying his best to ignore us in the rear view mirror. I did notice from what I could see he had just a hint of a smile.

Smirking I felt my devious nature come to the front. "Hey! That's my line! I'm the only one supposed to be groaning here." I felt pleasure rush through me as Josh briefly pounded his head against the steering wheel. I glanced over at Brittany and gave her the most innocent, halo inducing smile I could muster. She rolled her eyes and let out a brief chuckle.

After a half hour of nonsense conversation and silence we reached the interstate. It only took us two more hours to reach Columbus, the first city we would hit on our journey west. The afternoon sun was striking right down on top of us now. It must have been at least seventy degrees.

It wasn't long till we were off the interstate and parked at an infected filled park. I moaned at the sight of mindless stumbling zombies. " Come on! Did CEDA really have to make every single park an evac zone? I would love to just find a nice, wooded, shady place to relax." I glared at the lake and it's refreshing water, and those trees over on the left and right sides of the field. Josh smirked and stepped down off the bus. "Stop your bitching and just come out here. Enjoy it while you have it." Brittany sniggered and followed after Josh. Growling I crossed my arms an followed them down the steps like a pouting child.

I ignored the tents and obvious "see this is safe" bullshit on my left at the end of the parking lot. Walking with my arms crossed, I went over to one the abandoned cement picnic tables. Huffily I took a seat and focused on my my surrounding, oh and that stupid common over there eating his own arm. Rolling my eyes I watched Josh walk over and stand next to the lake, his eyes seemed to wander across it and briefly focus on the island before continuing. From the sounds behind me it seemed like Brittany had ran back into the bus for some reason and was going through something in the back.

Rolling my eyes I looked back over at Josh. As soon as my eyes focused on him they grew two sizes too big. My heart stopped as I stared. His arms were raised over his head as he pulled his hoodie up and over his head. His back looked as if the finest artist had sculpted it, not even a single tumor or scar on it. Just beautiful muscle and skin. As he kept pulling the hoodie higher I was treated to small puffs of hair under his armpits and very strong, muscular arms that looked gorgeous in the sun's light, sweat shining off them highlighting their curves an contours.

I felt time slow down as it was yanked over his head and he lowered his arms, hoodie in hand. I swore I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as he turned towards me. I felt my breath catch as his front was exposed. A six pack is nothing if the guy doesn't have a flavor that is totally him to it. Good thing that Josh had a few scars that just screamed sexy hunter. Staring at his chest I found one or two scars seemed to be from clawed off tumors. I licked my lips, tasting the dry saltiness of them. I couldn't help staring as he started walking my way.

Vaguely I heard Brittany walking up behind me. Coughing I looked back at her suddenly very interested in what she was doing. Anything to keep my mind off of Josh, who was heading my way. " Whatcha doing Brittany?" I felt like slapping my face as my voice cracked on the whatcha. God I was turning into a blubbering, blushing, idiot in front of the now hoodie less Josh.

She plopped down a small box on the table an started sorting through it. As I watched her work I felt less an less a chance of her replying. Sighing I turned and looked back at Josh. I blushed heavily as I found him standing right in front of me. Glancing at my hands I found the claws that had taken the place of fingers quite intriguing. He dropped his hoodie on the seat next too me. Looking up in surprise I found myself face to face with him stretching. I blushed as I could smell a hint of his sweat. Glancing left I felt it best to not make it awkward an just talk to the guy. " So, Josh, how are you holding up?"

The silence I received nearly made me look over at him but I held off, I had too. "Well considering our situation. I'm quite fine. Kinda miss the days when I would just tell the teachers to screw themselves, grab my skateboard and go skating down the hallway." Josh chuckled at some memory. " No, I take that back. I think what I miss the most is the vodka I'd steal from the old man. I'd take it out back to my tree house and drink it with a few of my friends. To bad our infected brains don't get much of a side affect from alcohol. Would be awesome to just get another skateboard, some vodka, and just... Well you know." Josh chuckled again. I could feel his eyes on me, burning a hole in my scalp. My resistance crumbled an I glanced up at him. He smirked at me an winked. Blushing I glanced down.

"What do you have there Brittany?" I glanced up to see what Josh was talking about. A smile graced my face as I seen what it was, an old, crank, radio. " So that's what you were looking for Britt? What're we gonna do, listen to the sport bulletin?" Brittany rolled her eyes as she set the radio down beside the box on the concrete table. "No dimwit, but there might be an old radio broadcast going out about evacuation zones or survivor camps. You know, like in "I Am Legend?"

Brittany turned the crank on the side a few times before turning it on. She kept the volume low as she started searching the frequencies. I kept my eyes focused on the radio ignoring the abs right next to me now. Static, static, static... "...Has been overrun. If you are in the City of Columbus, get out now, the last evac center has fallen and the infected have taken over. Nothing left here for the living so I'd suggest you get out of the city and try another evac center." The radio went silent for a few seconds before it started to repeat the message. I felt the oxygen leave my throat in a rush as if I had been squeezed out of me. Every last ounce of oxygen was exiting my lunges. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. While this message could be half a year old, the fact it was still being broadcast meant it was recent.

Brittany's voice intruded my pity party and the hopelessness I was feeling. "Well, I guess that means we head to the next city to find supplies. Nothing left for us here." I glanced up from where I was staring to her face. I relaxed my gaze to a little as I looked into her eyes. "Well, Cincinnati has a survivors camp at the old C.N.K.I. Airport. Though from the grapevine it sounds like they're not exactly intelligent infected friendly, but they do allow a few intelligent in at a time."

A hand landed on my shoulder an I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Well I guess that is where were heading." I shivered under his warm hand. If I had been human I would of thought it extremely warm and almost feverish but now it felt cool and comfortable. I smiled at Brittany to hide my embarrassment. "I guess so Josh, that just means we better get on the road. Also just so you know, I'm not gonna pitch a tent when we get there I'll sleep in the bus before I sleep outside a colony in some defenseless tent." Brittany put the radio on top the box, carrying it toward the bus.

Suddenly I felt hot breath being blown on my ear. A husky voice whispered into my ear. "She might not pitch a tent there, but you sure are pitching one now." My eyes bulged and I found my lips very dry. "Guess you found my stretching very entertaining." A brief brush of his claws against my arousal left me paralyzed. Josh chuckled and moved away, quickly running toward the bus, hoodie in hand. His sculpted muscles moved as if it was living marble. I swallowed a large lump and attempted ignored my, very apparent, arousal as I stood up and started walking back toward the bus.

Josh smirked and winked at me as I passed him. During the time it took me to get back he put his hoodie back on. After I took my seat behind him Josh turned around and faced us. "Next stop Cincinnati." Smiling he turned back round and started the bus up once again. Within twenty minutes we were out of the parking lot and getting back onto the interstate, this time we entered the eastbound lanes. Best way to avoid the traffic jams that have sat there since the initial outbreak. A clean shot out of the city too.

An hour later we were stopped at a rest stop along I-71. I was curled up in my seat, my erection gone, as Josh and Brittany went to use the toilets. I rolled my eyes, even after infection we had the call of nature. I sighed as a cool breeze wafted through the wooded trees and then through the bus. I smirked as I looked around the now overgrown small forest and grass. Just a few yards away from the edges of the rest stop was an overgrown field from an abandoned farm. I chuckled and laid my head against the, now, cool glass.

I was pretty sure we were half way there but there was a thought that kept bugging me. I hadn't been entirely honest with Josh and Brittany. Cincinnati wasn't exactly infected hostile, but reports were that any intelligent infected that passed through there either never came back out or came out a very changed different person. The infected never really did speak of what happened, they just clammed up or left. Sighing I closed my eyes. I'd have to tell them but.. we needed help desperately. Maybe when we get closer to Cincinnati I'll be able tell them an maybe we can go somewhere else, somewhere safe. Briefly a thought crossed my mind before sleep found me. What would we do if they still wanted to go there, what would happen to us?


End file.
